


tension

by lo_ells



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Lawyers, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Rivalry, a rivals to lovers au but make it lipsoul, or do they, they hate each other, they're endgame trust me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 34,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23479165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lo_ells/pseuds/lo_ells
Summary: Jung Jinsol and Kim Jungeun are lawyers with a rivalry known city-wide. Their battles in court are a sight to behold, with a characteristic intensity fuelling fierce words and harsh blows.However, neither are quite prepared for when that tension begins to run a little deeper, and things get a little more complicated.
Relationships: Jung Jinsol | Jinsoul & Kim Jungeun | Kim Lip, Jung Jinsol | Jinsoul/Kim Jungeun | Kim Lip
Comments: 96
Kudos: 499





	1. case #544

**Author's Note:**

> so take all of the lawyer/law stuff with a grain of salt bc my knowledge is limited to wikipedia and a few seasons of how to get away with murder :)
> 
> but i tried so i hope you enjoy!!

_**Thursday March 5th, 2020** _

“All rise for the honourable Judge Jo. Court is now in session.”

The young judge, Haseul, approaches the stand, looking much too fair and youthful to be residing over as tense a courtroom as this.

The opposing sides sneer at each other in disgust. The defense looks smug, the prosecution, livid.

As the judge takes her seat, she finally gives the room a quick once over and struggles to hide her surprise. She has never seen her courtroom so packed with people. They seem to be lining out the door to catch a glimpse of the events yet to transpire.

Of course, she knows exactly why this is the case. She just wasn’t quite prepared for the high intensity, with the tension causing the room to feel three times smaller than it is.

The lawyers present today have a rivalry known city-wide, and the companies they work for have been entangled in a decade-long feud, so much so that it was covered in her first year law classes.

Eclipse Ltd. is one of the most profitable oil companies in the country. Known for its savvy CEO and unorthodox methods, they have built their reputation on ruthlessness and a drive to succeed. Oh, and they happen to be one of the worst pollutants in Eastern Asia.

This means they have developed a bit of a reputation, rightfully so, and have brought themselves countless lawsuits on any charge under the sun, all to do with how poorly they treat the environment.

Representing them today, and for the past four or so years, is a woman who has developed a similar reputation herself. Ruthless. Driven. Passionate. Terrifying to come up against. Likely the only lawyer with the skill to save her company’s ass as many times as she has.

Kim Jungeun, sporting her classic pant suit combo, hair in a bun so tight the judge is sure it is cutting off blood circulation to her head. Haseul has to remind herself that she is in control of this trial, and that she cannot bend to every whim in fear of Ms. Kim’s glare.

However, Jungeun is up against a formidable foe.

She is representing Blue Betta Environmental Defence, which, ironically, has nothing to do with betta fish.

Known worldwide for their humanitarian efforts, Blue Betta has always been a thorn in Eclipse’s side, refusing to let them off easy on their carelessness and disregard for the planet.

Jung Jinsol, slightly more casual in a white collared shirt and dress pants, is the human embodiment of said beliefs and morals. Nothing makes her more angry than Eclipse Ltd., which is why she relishes each time she meets them in the courtroom.

And, every time, that means going up against Kim Jungeun.

The two graduated law school in the same year, albeit from different schools, and both finished at the top of their respective classes.

They took the BAR on the same day, and were the only two to get perfect scores.

They’ve known each other for years, but their actions outside the courtroom have been limited. Despite this, and the intensity in which the two battle in court, their rivalry does lean more towards friendly than not, with a genuine respect present between them that is not shared by their companies.

But, just because they respect one another doesn’t mean they completely like each other. And it certainly doesn’t mean either woman wants to lose to their biggest rival.

This is why people have come from across Seoul to witness two of the finest lawyers in the country duke it out.

Haseul decides the two sides have been left to stir for long enough, and figures they might as well get this over with.

She loudly clears her throat, and every pair of eyes are on her.

“Welcome, everyone. This is Case #544 of the Seoul High Court. Here today is Blue Betta Environmental Defence, who are attempting to sue Eclipse Ltd. on the grounds of…” she trails off her sentence. “What are the grounds, Ms. Jung?”

Jinsol stands confidently. “Breach of the Proper Disposal Act, page 312 section 8, your honour.”

Haseul blinks. She can’t say she is quite familiar with such an act.

“I’m sorry, you’ll have to refresh my memory on what exactly that is.”

Jungeun snickers from her seat, causing Jinsol to roll her eyes.

“Eclipse Ltd. knowingly dumped tonnes of toxic waste into Frog Lake instead of disposing it properly, as outlined in the Proper Disposal Act.” She pauses, and spares a glance in Jungeun’s direction, scowl deepening. “Page 312. Section 8.”

Haseul nods, glad to have cleared that up.

“Right, of course. Thank you, Ms. Jung.”

Jinsol nods as well and returns to her seat, shooting Jungeun a glare in the process and sneering at the wink she receives in response.

“Well, this all looks very exciting, and I’m glad such a crowd has turned up for today, but we won’t resume for another few days. I have received word that we are to delay proceedings until Wednesday, so thank you all for showing up on time, but the court is adjourned.”

Haseul sighs, already tired despite not even being in the room for ten minutes. She feels slightly bad to let the large crowd go without a show, but orders are orders. Despite the celebrity status, a murder trial will always take precident over environmental law.

As she retreats to her quarters, Jungeun and Jinsol clear up their belongings and get ready to leave. Both are disappointed that they didn’t get a chance to go at it, but they know the time will come.

They finish at the same time and approach the narrow exit out of the courtroom and into the large, ballroom-esque main corridor.

Jinsol holds her hand out, indicating Jungeun exit first. “Ladies first, of course.”

Jungeun smiles witchingly and takes her cue, leaving a little shove on her way past. Jinsol laughs knowingly and walks quickly to catch up with the younger woman.

“It’s been a while, Jungeun, how are things? Still destroying the planet?”

Jungeun stops walking and turns to finally face Jinsol, wanting nothing more than to wipe the stupid smirk off of the blonde’s face.

“Yeah, actually, I just threw all of my cardboard in the trash and left my car running overnight. How about you, still an annoying asshole?”

Jinsol grins. As much as she hates Eclipse Ltd., teasing their best lawyer has got to be one of her favourite pastimes.

Their dynamic in court is quite different to their dynamic out of it, at least from Jinsol’s perspective. With such high stakes on the line, the two never hold back when on the job and are constantly at each other’s throats, desperately trying to one-up the other for a multitude of reasons.

However, once the court is dismissed and their work personas are shed, they fall somewhere in between rivals and friends. Jinsol actually doesn’t bear much ill will towards the younger lawyer, with most of the dislike she feels by pure association, not anything personal. Par for the course when her employer is Eclipse Ltd.

Jinsol mostly just enjoys pushing Jungeun’s buttons, simply because it is so easy to get her fired up. She really can’t help herself, but her jabs lack malice and they both understand where the line is.

In another life, if Jungeun worked for a different company perhaps, Jinsol thinks the two of them might have got along pretty well.

But, in this one, their relationship is better described as frenemies out of the court, mortal enemies in it. To say it was complicated would be an understatement.

Relishing the annoyance on Jungeun’s face, Jinsol pokes the small crease developing between Jungeun’s eyebrows, causing the shorter woman to swat her hand away.

“Last time I checked!” Jinsol smirks, and starts walking towards the back exit, knowing Jungeun will follow.

She does.

“I’m sad we didn’t get to get into the nitty-gritty today. My case is so airtight I actually feel a bit bad for you.”

Jungeun rolls her eyes. “You say that every time and yet I almost always win. I think you’re a bit too overconfident for your own good there, Jung.”

“Ah, see, but this time it’s different. I have a secret,” Jinsol teases, eyebrows wiggling up and down in emphasis.

“And what might that be?” Jungeun hates indulging the older woman, but she has always felt a pull that she can’t seem to shake, no matter how hard she tries. It isn’t her fault that Jinsol is as annoying as she is alluring.

Despite Jinsol largely being quite friendly towards Jungeun outside of court, Jungeun would say she loathes the blonde.

Even if she hadn’t been trained from her first day to despise anything and anyone related to Blue Betta Environmental Defense, Jinsol’s simultaneous cockiness and aloofness never fails to make Jungeun’s blood boil.

And how often it happens doesn’t help. It seems that every little win in court, every passing comment, even an over-exaggerated flip of her hair pisses Jungeun off. If she really thought about it, it would seem a bit much for a simple rival.

But, with no lack of help from their companys’ famous feud, Jungeun can confidently say she’s never felt anything but disdain towards her opposition.

At least, that’s what she tells herself.

Jinsol winks, but provides no answer to Jungeun’s question.

Jungeun scoffs. “Whatever, it isn’t like you can prove anything.”

“You bet your ass I can!” Jinsol says, finally making her way out of the building and towards her slick black Tesla.

Jungeun hates that car. As arrogant and flashy as its owner.

Jinsol turns and meets Jungeun’s gaze one final time, and for some reason, seeing the brunette all crabby and pouty causes a comment to slip past her lips before she can question its origin.

“And, by the way, it is a great ass.”

Before Jungeun is given the opportunity to respond, Jinsol is in her Tesla and speeding away.

All Jungeun is left with is the image of a “PLSRECYCLE” license plate and a confusing feeling in her stomach.

-

_**Wednesday March 11th, 2020** _

The familiar stench of papercopying and fear welcomes Jungeun as she enters her favourite building.

With a circular dome shaped roof made out of reinforced glass and the intricate panel work on the outer and inner walls, it doesn’t quite present as the state courthouse. Many liken it to the Griffith Observatory famously residing over the Los Angeles hills, however the Seoul High Court is known for much more gruesome affairs.

People almost exclusively dressed in some form of a suit bustle around her, the occasional splash of the sickening orange jumpsuit providing a stark contrast to the mind numbing blend of black and navy blue.

Jungeun sighs as she steps up to the large flat screen near the main office. As she scans for her case number, and the courtroom she’ll be in for today’s case, she feels someone kick her calf lightly from behind.

She struggles to keep her balance, and she’s lucky she managed a couple hours of sleep the night before or else she’s sure she would have fallen and struggled to get back up.

When Junguen meets the eyes of the perpetrator, she groans and wishes she’d slept through her alarm.

Jinsol, as chipper as she always is at 7:00 in the morning, nudges Jungeun in greeting.

It never fails to piss Jungeun off that while she spends hours upon hours slaving over her case notes the night before a trial, Jinsol seems to show up with a full night’s sleep and no review and still walk all over her in court.

“Hey, gorgeous. How’d you sleep?” Jinsol grins, noticing the slight eye bags residing under Jungeun’s brown eyes. Despite Jungeun’s hard glare, Jinsol finds herself admiring the way her eyes sparkle against the bright lights.

Jungeun grumbles and turns her attention back to the flat screen. “Like a baby, thanks for asking.”

As she finally finds their assigned courtroom, Jungeun’s vision is blocked by a to-go cup being brought right in front of her face. She almost smacks it away in surprise, but the heavenly aroma of fresh coffee overwhelms her senses.

Jungeun turns, slightly bewildered, and meets Jinsol’s gaze. For one of the only times she can remember, she sees a bit of hesitance, uncertainty, in Jinsol’s dark eyes.

“Yes, I stopped to get you a coffee. No need to thank me, I just know this is the only way you’ll ever be any real competition,” Jinsol smirks, ignoring the sudden butterflies erupting in her stomach at Jungeun’s cautious smile.

Jungeun doesn’t really know what to say. This might be the nicest thing Jinsol has ever done for her, and she didn’t even ask for it. She briefly wonders for a moment if the blonde has spiked it, but her overwhelming desire for caffeine says it’s worth the risk.

She takes the cup from Jinsol’s hand and immediately finds herself perking up after one sip. Deciding not to think too much about the oddness of the gesture, Jungeun smirks.

“Ah, just what I needed. Now there is no doubt that I’m going to kick your ass.”

The comment slipped out in Jungeun’s euphoria, but now both women are reminded of the equally odd comment Jinsol had let slip during their last encounter. Even more odd is that Jungeun feels her cheeks heat up, and Jinsol finds herself slightly short of breath.

Without another word, the two mindlessly make their way towards the courtroom and take their seats.

Jungeun busies herself with her opening statements. There is no doubt that her company is guilty, she’s sure everyone in the room knows that to be true. But, that’s never stopped her before.

Despite immensely disagreeing with every move her company makes, her job is a prestigious one, and she can’t say she doesn’t love the challenge.

Jungeun grew up wanting to be a lawyer, and a good one too. She made it her sole goal in life to work for the biggest company she could, representing them on the grandest stage. The day she received the news of her hiring to Eclipse Ltd. was the single greatest day of her life.

At this point, Jungeun isn’t sure she could give her job up for anything. Not after how hard she’s worked to get it, and certainly not after how much she’s had to give up to keep it.

Jinsol, similarly, has always had a passion for law. But, she was distracted for a while by the environment, wanting to be the person to stop climate change throughout much of her high school years.

When she discovered that that goal was slightly out of reach, she settled for the next best thing.

Working for Blue Betta has been immensely rewarding in the four or so years she’s worked for them, but Jinsol always gets the feeling there is more to be done. Her hatred for Eclipse brews deep, and every time those arrogant assholes walk free without blame, the more likely the world becomes too damaged to repair.

But, she’ll be damned if she lets that happen without giving it her best shot.

Especially today, as, for some unknown reason, Jinsol has an extra incentive to win, and it involves her opposition.

She’s not quite sure what possessed her to bring Jungeun a coffee this morning. Of course, you’d have to be blind to not notice Jungeun’s exhaustion the morning of most trials, but she hasn’t usually given it a second thought.

This time, she did. And now, watching Jungeun fiddle with her blazer and periodically glance at the clock, Jinsol recognizes her feelings for the other lawyer starting to morph into something unfamiliar, but quite terrifying. Funny, all it took was some passing compliment for Jinsol to view Jungeun in a whole new light.

Or, maybe all of the jest and competition masked Jinsol’s true feelings that have now been unearthed by a simple drop of a hat. But, if Jinsol were being honest, it’s likely those feelings were ready and waiting to erupt at any moment. Perhaps it was only a matter of time.

As Haseul enters the court, Jinsol takes a deep breath and attempts to clear her mind, putting those recent developments aside to be unpacked and analyzed at a later date. She is more than ready to own her opening statement, as she always is.

Haseul indicates for her to start, so Jinsol stands confidently and moves to sit on the front of her desk, the picture of casualness.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for attending court on this fine Wednesday morning.” Jinsol does a quick scan of the room, putting on her priceless, and famous, beaming smile. She holds in a chuckle at the few sighs of awe she receives in response.

“I’m hoping you are all here for the same reason that I am. To save the planet from irresponsible, careless, and egocentric narcissists. Or, to sum up, Eclipse Ltd.

“This is by no means their first offense. In fact, I’d wage a bet that they must be up near a hundred by now. Evidently, the superiority complex developed by their CEO is becoming too problematic to control.” Jinsol pauses, for effect. “Luckily, I’m here today.”

Jinsol smiles as a few pairs of hands hesitantly applaud her from the back of the room, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. Almost everyone else in the room looks as though they want to follow suit.

The only one not giving Jinsol their full attention is Jungeun. Still having not looked in the woman’s general direction since their slightly awkward encounter, she is more than sensitized to Jinsol’s opening spiel. It is almost identical every time, and yet it never seems to fail her.

This time, though, the smile that she usually hates makes her feel a little different. The lavish words and charismatic delivery are eliciting quite an unusual reaction in Jungeun, one she tries desperately to quell to what she knows is no avail.

Watching Jinsol stand from her position and stroll over to the large window on their right side, spewing words slating her company with such vigor and determination, Jungeun isn’t sure she has ever seen something more attractive.

That thought alone is enough to blow Jungeun’s entire mind.

But, before she is given the chance to freak out, Jinsol is finishing up her statement.

“Hopefully, with our combined efforts,” Jinsol indicates to the jury, “we can put Eclipse Ltd. in its rightful place. Bankruptcy.”

With a smile, Jinsol bows to the applauding crowd, their hesitance long forgotten, and returns to her seat. As she passes by, she notices Jungeun’s attention finally on her, and, making the most of it, she sends her a wink.

“Try and follow that,” she mumbles.

As Jinsol sits, already smug after surely leaving Jungeun much too large of a hill to climb, she watches the brunette rise from her seat and walk towards the middle of the floor. As she walks by Jinsol’s table, the older woman can’t help the way her eyes travel up and down Jungeun’s figure.

Despite the apparent rollercoaster of emotions Jinsol’s off-hand comment the other day has awakened, she can’t say she regrets saying it, or that it isn’t true.

Jinsol’s eyes are glued on Jungeun, taking full advantage of the opportunity to watch the younger woman in action. It truly is a sight to behold.

“I’m glad you all enjoyed Ms. Jung’s opening statements. I’m afraid mine won’t be quite as charming, so I apologize in advance.”

Jungeun’s face is stoic as she speaks, gaze flitting only between the jury and the judge, as she knows they are the only ones in the room who are of true importance.

“It is a shame my company’s reputation precedes them because the blame is automatically assumed without any thought of motive, evidence, or semblance of logic,” Jungen recites, eyes flicking pointedly towards Jinsol at the last comment. Jinsol huffs under her breath.

“We all know of Blue Betta’s, and Ms. Jung’s for that matter, immense hatred towards Eclipse Ltd. I pose a question. How many of those supposed ‘hundred’ offenses have been proven?”

The room is silent, seemingly unsure if Jungeun wants an answer to her rhetorical question. But nobody dares make a move. If Jinsol’s strategy is to charm the jury, Jungeun’s is to scare them.

“Today’s case is more of the same. Blue Betta getting bored, spinning a wheel and picking a random accusation at a company much more powerful and important than they will ever be,” Jungeun smirks.

Jinsol rolls her eyes. Jungeun loves to poke fun at Blue Betta, despite their overwhelming support from the general public. Jinsol has never been sure of that strategy, but seeing Jungeun’s eyes glint teasingly, Jinsol realizes it was never about poking fun at them.

“And, if you don’t believe me yet, you will by the end of this case,” Jungeun concludes, with one final nod towards those sitting before her.

As she takes her seat, she is met with an applause wildly different to the one Jinsol received. Many are scared she will suddenly turn into a rabid monster and kill them all if they don’t show her some form of appreciation.

Once the crowd settles, Haseul clears her throat.

“Well, that is all we had planned for today. We will commence in a few days for the first round of witness interrogations. Again, thank you all for coming.”

People start to filter out of the room and Jungeun begins hastily packing her things. She desperately wants to avoid another exchange with her now suddenly mega-attractive opponent. Or, maybe she has always been mega-attractive, and Jungeun has just always been blinded by hatred to notice.

Regardless, Jungeun doesn’t want to think about it anymore than she is already starting to, so she bids Haseul a quick farewell and speed walks out of the room.

Jinsol, not quite done with Jungeun yet, notices this when she hears a small “excuse me” and “pardon me.” She barely catches Jungeun’s flowing brown hair before it disappears into the busy rush of the main corridor.

It takes a borderline full sprint for Jinsol to catch Jungeun, and she’s thankful they both park in the back parkade. Neither are too fond of the vulturing paparazzi hovering around the main entrance at all times, so they usually make their way out of the building through a slightly hidden stairwell.

For all the years the two have worked in the courthouse, they’ve only ever seen each other frequent it.

As soon as Jinsol opens the stairwell entrance, she’s met with a relieved, that quickly morphs into surprised, Jungeun.

“What’s got you in such a hurry?” Jinsol asks, still trying to catch her breath.

Jungeun is at a loss for words, something Jinsol has rarely ever seen. So much for avoidance.

“Oh, you know, just trying to make it home before rush hour,” Jungeun replies, lie easily falling from her lips.

Jinsol’s brow furrows in confusion. “It’s 9 in the morning, rush hour is well over by now.”

Jungeun’s eyes widen. “Oh, you’re right! Silly me, I must have forgotten. Anyways, have a good rest of your day!” She tries to escape the situation as fast as possible to prevent further embarrassment, but a strong hand holds her in place by the wrist.

“Wait!”

They both still, equally surprised at Jinsol’s outburst. Realizing she is gripping Jungeun’s wrist so tight she might genuinely leave a mark, Jinsol quickly retracts her hand. She ignores the small jolt of electricity that ran up her spine when her hand connected with Jungeun’s bare skin.

“Um, I mean, don’t you know what today is?” Jinsol asks hurriedly, words flying out of her mouth before she can stop them.

“No, what’s today?”

“It’s our anniversary!” Jinsol replies gleefully and Jungeun narrows her eyes, taking the opportunity of Jinsol’s ridiculousness to collect herself from the initial surprise.

“What? Don’t tell me you actually remember the first time we met.”

Jinsol rolls her eyes, semi-thankful that the normal, sarcastic, asshole Jungeun is back. Nervous and cute Jungeun is too unfamiliar and was throwing Jinsol through quite a few loops.

“No, you idiot. It’s the five-year anniversary of when we took the BAR!”

Jungeun’s eyes immediately light up in recognition, sad that the day happened to slip her mind.

It is one of her proudest moments, and she’s sure Jinsol feels the same. Their love for law and justice is one of the few things they share, and she can’t say she’s too upset about sharing her 100% title.

“Wow, I can’t believe it’s already been five years,” Jungeun replies wistfully, feeling nostalgic as memories of herself in law school come flooding back.

“We should do something to celebrate,” Jinsol says, again without giving a second thought to the immense consequences of that statement alone.

At the shock on Jungeun’s face, Jinsol immediately shuts her eyes closed and reminds herself to have a firm talk with her language centre about impulse control.

“Y-you and… me?” Jungeun stammers out.

Jinsol almost retracts the offer, but stops herself. Would spending a bit of time together be so bad? She doesn’t think she’s ever seen Jungeun outside of a courtroom setting.

With her newfound feelings taking the wheel, she finds herself nodding slowly.

“Yeah, why not?”

Jungeun’s brain finally starts to reboot itself after the initial short-circuiting, and she too wonders what the hell she has to lose.

“Okay, but I’m not going to help you pick litter or some shit,” she replies, sounding much more confident than she really was. Her lips form a small smile at Jinsol’s vain attempt to hide her beaming one.

Jinsol starts walking down the stairwell towards the exit door, and Jungeun, finally remembering where exactly they are, rushes to follow her.

“I know this great coffee place not too far from here. Kiss Later.”

Jungeun’s eyes pop out of their sockets and she almost falls down the remaining stairs.

“What did you just say?” she demands, her heart literally pumping out of her chest.

Jinsol just looks at her, confusion etched on her face. “Kiss Later? The name of the cafe?”

Jungeun sighs in relief, but now suddenly finds the stairwell extremely warm and a certain image framed in her mind for what she knows will be the rest of the week.

“Oh, okay. Sounds good.”

“Maybe you should get your hearing checked. I mean, you are almost at the age for hearing loss.” Jinsol stops to move closer to Jungeun’s ear, forcing Jungeun to swallow down any retort she could muster.

Feeling the older woman’s breath on her ear, the suspense was short lived.

“JUNGEUN CAN YOU HEAR ME?” Jinsol shouts in her ear, causing Jungeun to jolt backwards and fall on her ass.

Jinsol doubles over in laughter as Jungeun huffs and pulls herself off of the floor, cheeks bright red and forehead intensely crinkled.

“You are such an asshole,” Jungeun spits, but the usual menace is gone from her statement.

They both take note of that.

Jungeun leaves the still chuckling Jinsol behind and finally exits the building, her pearl white BMW her destination.

“So should I just follow you then?” Jungeun calls towards Jinsol, who approaches her Tesla on the other side of the parking lot.

“Yeah, but don’t tailgate me or else you’ll never get a morning coffee from me again!”

-

_**Friday March 20th, 2020** _

“So you are claiming, in front of the jury, that you personally called,” Jinsol pauses to scan her notes, “Avalanche Environmental Services to come and properly dispose of the tonnes of toxic waste that Eclipse had accumulated during the months leading up to the crime.”

The man on the stand, one of the higher-ups at Eclipse, gulps nervously. Beads of sweat continuously run down the side of his face, and Jungeun swears she can smell his B.O from where she is seated.

The second she’d had a good look at him earlier in the morning, Jungeun could tell she was screwed. But unfortunately, he is the only witness she has. He’s not lying, he did personally sign off on the order, and as far as he knew, it should have gone through.

It was one of his superiors who intercepted the call and was responsible for the improper disposal. Of course, that asshole would never show up in court even if Jungeun wanted him to, so she’s left with this trainwreck.

“Um, uh, yes. T-that is what I am claiming,” he stutters, not once meeting Jinsol’s daggered gaze.

Jungeun had tried her best during her interrogation to assure the jury, and her witness, of his credibility. But, unfortunately, the minute Jinsol had started her questioning, Jungeun’s suspicions were confirmed.

Jinsol is eating this guy up and absolutely wiping the floor with Jungeun’s defence. Usually, that would piss her off. She hates losing to Jinsol, even if she knows the odds were always stacked against her, just as they seem to be for this case.

However, anger and frustration are the last thoughts on Jungeun’s mind. Well, actually, maybe a different kind of frustration.

Jungeun genuinely has no idea when exactly Jinsol got so sexy. Her wardrobe hasn’t really changed, maybe she’s been going to the gym more? Plastic surgery, even?

Regardless, watching the older woman rip the man who is supposed to be saving her case to shreds is sending heat down to parts of her body she never thought would be associated with Jinsol.

Jungeun is absolutely mesmerized. Maybe it has something to do with their coffee “celebration” the previous week. It went pretty well, they were quite civil, even friendly.

But after the realization that her literal arch rival is super hot, everything Jinsol does has turned from infuriating to downright tantalizing.

And whatever is going on right now with Jinsol in that outfit is not helping in the slightest. Why did she have to wear such tight pants? And does she realize her blouse is kind of see-through?

“Well, after getting in touch with Avalanche, they confirmed that the order was cancelled. Do you happen to know anything about that?”

The man’s eyes widen, caught off guard, and he looks frantically towards Jungeun for help.

Jungeun, however, has her gaze trained firmly on Jinsol’s ass, trying very hard to keep herself together.

Jinsol follows the man’s lead, hoping to catch the defeatist look on Jungeun’s face. She can’t say she sees it as much as she would like, Jungeun is quite an admirable opponent, but when Jinsol does get one over on the younger woman, she likes to relish every moment.

However, when she finally lays her eyes on the brunette, Jinsol sees the true object of Jungeun’s attention, and is slightly alarmed at the way Jungeun’s eyes frantically shoot upwards to meet her own.

Jinsol isn’t sure whose face is redder.

Swiftly turning back around and ignoring the sudden high temperature of the room, Jinsol smirks at the trembling man on the stand.

“That’s what I thought. You never intended to dispose of the toxic waste properly. I’m surprised you even called Avalanche in the first place, you clearly just wanted to waste their time. And now, here we all are, wasting our time as well.”

“Objection!” Jungeun abruptly stands from her seat, both hands shooting out to the table in front of her for support.

Judge Jo furrows her brow at the younger lawyer. “On what grounds, Ms. Kim?”

Jungeun hesitates. Her instincts told her to interject, but she really clocked out of the interrogation about 5 minutes in. She is thankful for the breather, as the more Jinsol slams her defence into the ground, the more she wants to slam Jinsol up against a nearby wall.

“Um, leading question?” Jungeun stammers, eyes trained on the clock above Haseul’s head. At least they were about to conclude for the day.

“Denied? She didn’t even ask a question.” Haseul says, confused. She turns her attention back to Jinsol as Jungeun slumps back into her seat in embarrassment. “Speaking of which, are you finished, Ms. Jung?”

Jinsol smiles in both relief and triumph. “Yes. No more questions for today, thank you.”

She returns to her seat and spares a glance in Jungeun’s direction, immediately surprised that the gaze is met. The younger woman has been avoiding eye contact since they’d arrived in the morning, barely sending a customary greeting Jinsol’s way.

Jungeun’s eyes are clouded in something Jinsol can’t quite place, and before she can think too much about it, Haseul slams her gavel down, signalling the court is adjourned.

This time, Jungeun is slow to get herself together. She’s still slightly reeling from her immense and sudden sexual frustration, and is intensely alarmed at its cause, a mere few feet away.

She isn’t given even a moment of respite as Jinsol meanders her way over, chest puffed and pride fully visible.

“You know, I really expected more of a fight from you, Kim.”

Jungeun rolls her eyes. At least she’s still annoying. Not everything has changed.

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself. There’s still plenty of holes in your case that need poking,” Jungeun says with a smirk as she stands and puts on her coat.

They exit the room and make their way to their stairway, ignoring the rush of what can only be described as fangirls pawning after their every trail. Who knew law had such avid fanbases.

“Hmm, I’m not so sure you’re up for it this time around. You seemed a little distracted in there,” Jinsol grins. She isn’t going to let Jungeun get off easy, especially when she caught the brunette staring at her ass. Just too good of an opportunity to pass up, even though the thought makes Jinsol’s face flare bright red.

Jungeun chokes on air and scrambles to take a sip from her to-go mug, much to Jinsol’s amusement.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Jungeun replies stoically, picking up her pace slightly as they descend the stairs.

“Of course you don’t.”

They exit the building out into the warm, spring air. The minimal snow is finally starting to melt, and the sun is peeking out a bit more these days.

They both stop near the doorway, again having parked on opposite sides of the lot, and stare at each other. Neither are quite sure what they are waiting for as it is common for them to part ways without a farewell. They’ll see each other in a week or so anyways.

This time, though, that tension from earlier is tethering them both to the spot. More intense than ever, neither can deny it at this point.

Jinsol wasn’t sure what the clouding of Jungeun’s eyes meant before, but now, being so up close, it’s hard to miss it.

Especially when Jungeun’s gaze travels down to Jinsol’s lips. She’d tried out a new colour of lipstick today. A deep, blood red. Jungeun’s favourite colour.

Jinsol’s breath hitches as Jungeun leans forward slightly, seeming like she wants to step closer.

But she doesn’t.

Somehow, Jungeun snaps herself out of it, her rational brain reminding her of the long list of reasons why making out with Jinsol against the back wall of the courthouse would be a terrible idea. She’ll deal with the immense desire to do just that another time.

Leaving a still flustered Jinsol with a simple nod of the head, Jungeun abruptly turns around and walks towards her car. However, she does make sure to leave a little extra in each step, knowing Jinsol is watching her every move.

They both are due for a long, cold shower when they arrive home.

-

_**Thursday March 26th, 2020** _

Jinsol shudders as she enters the courthouse, surprised at the low temperature. She really should have brought a jacket, but the sleeveless blouse she’s wearing nicely shows off her efforts from the gym earlier in the morning.

Climbing the stairs with haste in an attempt to warm herself up, Jinsol smiles as she thinks about the person she’s showing off for.

If she had any doubts about her feelings, her and Jungeun’s last encounter surely locked them up and sent them far, far out of Jinsol’s mind.

She likes Jungeun. And now that she’s aware of it, now that she’s actually considered it as a possibility, she probably has for a while.

Why else would she love to tease the younger woman more than anyone else? Why else does she look forward to every court appearance where the brunette is involved? And why else does she take up about 50% of Jinsol’s general thought?

Jinsol is sure Jungeun feels the same, at least to some extent. Jungeun hasn’t exactly been subtle, her inability to hide her attraction only endearing her to Jinsol more. But, Jinsol isn’t sure if that is where it ends with Jungeun. Just attraction.

If she were to be optimistic, Jinsol would muse that Jungeun feels the same as her. That little spark whenever they are together can’t just be felt on Jinsol’s side, surely.

However, Jungeun might simply want Jinsol in another way. One which Jinsol certainly wouldn’t complain about in the short-term, but long-term, she might have a few quarrels.

There is also the added problem of Jungeun’s employers, of course.

No matter how much Jinsol’s feelings seem to grow with every second, Jungeun working for a company as terrible as Eclipse may prove to be too much of a dealbreaker for Jinsol. It would certainly be heartbreaking, and a situation in which she doesn’t really want to imagine.

That seems to be a problem for a later date however, and, with vigour, Jinsol enters the courtroom determined to get some resolution from the younger woman. For both of their sakes.

As Jinsol arrives, Jungeun is already at her seat, scanning her case notes. Jinsol smiles at the concentration on her face, eyebrows furrowed as she mumbles her arguments to herself.

Despite it being nearly 10:00 in the morning, Jinsol approaches Jungeun’s table and places a coffee on it.

Startled, Jungeun jumps in her seat and looks up to meet Jinsol’s caring gaze.

“Good morning, gorgeous,” Jinsol smirks.

Jinsol has always called her that, simply because Jungeun hates it.

But today, maybe it arises an increasingly familiar feeling in Jungeun’s stomach. She can’t control her gaze as her eyes linger up and down Jinsol’s figure, spending an increased amount of time on Jinsol’s arms.

Jinsol barely manages to hold in a laugh, and is thankful that Jungeun seems incapable of hiding her emotions. She’s also glad the extra effort in the gym seems to have paid off.

Once Jungeun snaps herself out of it, she bites back a smile and moves to take a sip from the cup, still warm to the touch.

“Thank you, again,” she mumbles.

“Anytime.” With a wink that still manages to make Jungeun feel incredibly lightheaded, Jinsol retreats to her own table and takes out her notes for today’s trial.

Jungeun watches her every move, and she too is starting to make a realization concerning her feelings.

For the past couple of weeks, Jinsol has been making her feel things that she hasn’t ever felt before. At least, not this intense and mind-consuming. And that is absolutely terrifying.

She can’t be having these types of feelings for someone like Jinsol. Someone who works for Blue Betta. Someone who she could probably be fired for just being around outside of the courthouse.

But, now more than ever, watching Jinsol review her case and prepare for another intense battle in court, those feelings are threatening to burst at her seams. And, worse still, now she can recognize them.

Jungeun wants to fuck her. Needs to, almost. She’s not sure why, or how, it’s come to this, but that seems to be the only explanation to her sudden predicament.

Well, the only one she’s willing to admit.

Judge Jo exits her chambers and makes her way over to her chair. She’s still not quite used to the crowd, and, knowing the case is winding down, the masses have only increased in volume.

Clearing her throat, she immediately gains the attention of the many onlookers.

“Welcome back everyone. To start things off, I believe Ms. Jung has a witness ready to take the stand?”

Jinsol nods, and gestures to the man sitting on her right to make his way to the front of the room.

As he takes his seat and swears in, Jungeun takes in his collected appearance. Confident, well-dressed, even smug. Whoever he is, he must be sure that his testimony will be iron-clad.

It is at this point that Jungeun realizes exactly how much she has let this case slip away from her. Damn Jinsol and all of her distractions. Jungeun has never been thrown off this much before, and if she doesn’t put up a decent fight, her superiors will have her ass for letting this case slip through her fingers much too easily.

She better have that arrogant smirk off of this man’s face by the end of the day.

Jinsol is up first, and politely smiles at the man before asking him to introduce himself.

“Johnny, I’m a travel guide. That’s all you need to know,” he smiles charmingly. Jungeun struggles to keep herself from throwing up.

“Right, sure. So, do you often pass by or visit Frog Lake?” Jinsol questions.

Johnny nods. “Oh yeah, all the time. It’s a favourite of our hikers.”

That makes Jungeun feel a little antsy. There is no way Jinsol has actually found someone who bore witness to Eclipse’s wrongdoings. That’d be a first.

If that is the case, she should at least try and rattle them a little bit. Or, more specifically, rattle Jinsol.

Noticing she’s in Jinsol’s peripheral, Jungeun shifts her position so she’s facing the blonde, right shoulder up against the back of her seat. She folds one leg on top of the other and reaches down to fix the strap on her heel, running her hand up her leg after she’s done so.

Jungeun hears Jinsol pause before asking the next question, and when she looks up, Jinsol’s eyes are firmly locked on Jungeun’s legs.

With a smirk, Jungeun resumes her former position while Jinsol tries to get herself back on track.

“O-ok, um, where was I,” Jinsol stammers. “So, you were taking a tour of it on January 30, earlier this year?”

“Objection! Leading question,” Jungeun interrupts, much more sure of herself this time around.

“Sustained, keep the questions open Ms. Jung,” Haseul agrees.

Jinsol huffs in frustration, getting annoyed at Jungeun’s dirty tactics. The brunette knows exactly what she’s doing and Jinsol wishes it wasn’t working. Her mind is already becoming scrambled with things she really shouldn’t be thinking about when interrogating a witness.

“My apologies, judge. Sir, were you taking a tour of Frog Lake on January 30, 2020?”

“Yes, I was. Beautiful day, the snow was falling to perfection,” Johnny replies, wistfully. Jungeun rolls her eyes. Hippie.

“Can you confirm that you saw a truck with this logo,” Jinsol pauses to hold up a piece of paper with the Eclipse Ltd. logo plastered on it, “dump the toxic waste into Frog Lake?”

Johnny smirks, again. “Absolutely. Saw it with my own two eyes.”

Jungeun’s stomach drops. Shit. She’s not sure how the hell this buffoon managed to solidify her case into the mud. She can feel the frustration coursing through her veins.

Funnily enough, though, most of that frustration is directed at a certain smirking blonde, currently taking her seat.

Jungeun stands, and sends Jinsol a look that Jinsol has grown to recognize after their many interactions in court. Jinsol braces herself, ready for a fight, and tries to ignore the tension in her lower abdomen at Jungeun’s determined glare.

“Hello, sir. I’m going to call you Johnny, if that’s alright,” Jungeun starts.

“You can call me anything you want, gorgeous,” Johnny grins, his attempt at charm repulsing both Jungeun and Jinsol.

“Well you can refer to me as Ms. Kim, thank you.” With a deep intake of breath, Jungeun begins her last ditch attempt at saving her case. Call it a hunch, but it just might work.

“Now, I’m not too familiar with your profession, do you mind going into a bit of detail for me please?”

“Objection! Relevance?” Jinsol questions. She’s not sure where Jungeun is going with this, but she doesn’t really want to find out.

“Trust me, judge, it’s relevant. Give me a minute,” Jungeun assures, confidence dripping from her words.

Haseul ponders for a moment. She doesn’t know what the younger lawyer is up to, but she herself, and the rest of the audience, deserve a little bit of a show. Plus, Jungeun seems on a mission, and Haseul is still slightly terrified of her.

“Overruled. Go ahead, Ms. Kim.”

Jungeun grins. Perfect. “Thank you. Johnny? Your profession?”

Johnny seems to be bursting at the seams. “Oh, it’s awesome! I barely have to shit, I just get to spend time in nature with people who love nature as much as I do! It’s super chill, and the group of us guides are really close.”

Jungeun nods, knowingly. “Do you live on site with the rest of your guides?”

“Hell yeah, in this cool log cabin. Super out of the way too, not a soul for a while.”

“Does it ever get boring out there? Do you partake in any activities to pass the time?”

“Objection! Compound question!” Jinsol stands, her annoyance at the younger woman’s line of questioning growing. She’s beginning to understand Jungeun’s plan, and, as ridiculous as it is, it might genuinely work.

“Sustained. One at a time, Ms. Kim,” Haseul warns.

Jungeun pauses, not entirely sure how to proceed. She knows what she wants to ask, but she might just string it out a bit longer. Jinsol seems to be getting extremely irritated, and that elates her to no end. When she looks the blonde’s way, the burning flame in her usually soft eyes sends a shiver down Jungeun’s spine.

“Fine. Johnny, what do you usually do to pass the time out in the wilderness, with your friends, away from any prying eyes?”

Johnny’s eyebrows furrow in confusion slightly, but at the pointed look on Jungeun’s face, his face immediately turns pale in realization.

“I-I’m not sure what you are implying.”

Jungeun puts her hands up in surrender. “I’m not implying anything! Simply asking a question. Do you and your friends happen to do anything, maybe some sort of substance, perhaps, that might help keep things fun and entertaining?”

“Objection! Leading the witness!”

“Overruled,” Haseul responds, indicating for Johnny to answer. Jinsol throws her hands up in frustration.

“U-um, yes?”

“You cannot answer my question with one of your own, Johnny.”

The confident persona from earlier has been replaced with a sweating, fidgeting, nervous version. Johnny looks as though he wishes to be anywhere else but under the intense scrutiny of one Kim Jungeun.

“Yes. Yeah, we have.”

Jungeun hums in acknowledgement. “Would any of those perhaps have been hallucinogens?”

Jinsol’s eyes widen. Son of a bitch.

With a glance in Jinsol’s direction, face painted in guilt, Johnny sighs. “Yes.”

Jungeun grins and walks over to Jinsol’s desk. She pauses, taking in the blonde’s rage threatening to blow. Jungeun smiles sweetly at Jinsol before picking up the paper with Eclipse’s logo on it.

“And you said you saw this logo on the truck supposedly dumping waste into the lake?”

“Objection, asked and answered,” Jinsol grumbles, not even bothering to stand.

“Just looking for a confirmation, judge.”

“Overruled.”

Jungeun turns her attention back to the witness. Labelling him as her victim would probably be more fitting.

“Yes, that’s the one I saw. With my own two eyes,” Johnny insists.

“Of course, your own two eyes. Those two eyes, however, are what I’m concerned about.” Jungeun takes in a breath, ready to deliver the killing blow. No beating around the bush for this one.

“Did you, or did you not, take any hallucinogenic drugs on the day of January 30, 2020?”

Jungeun hears a few gasps from the crowd, and she hears Jinsol’s chair scrape against the floor as if she was going to stand. However, no objection comes, and Jungeun knows she has her.

Johnny looks around the room at the dozens of pairs of eyes trained on him. He then turns to Haseul, who shows him no remorse, and raises a pointed eyebrow in his direction.

He nods.

“I’m sorry, you are going to have to vocalize your answer, for the recordings,” Junguen says smugly. She can barely contain her elation.

Johnny sighs. “Yes.”

Jungeun nods, and looks to the jury with a wicked grin before turning back to the dejected outline of the man.

“Serves you right, hippie.”

“Objec-”

“Withdrawn!” Jungeun says as she makes her way to her seat. “No further questions, your honour.”

While Haseul concludes proceedings, Jungeun’s attention turns solely to her opposition. Jinsol is absolutely livid, and Jungeun can practically feel the anger from where she is sitting.

Jinsol was so sure she had this in the bag. An actual witness to the crime? That should have been a done-deal. And yet, Kim Jungeun, supposed best lawyer in the city, had to ruin it all for her.

And did she have to look so damn fine doing it?

As pissed as she is, and she is really pissed, it absolutely pales in comparison to how turned on by Jungeun’s winning efforts Jinsol is. While she definitely has feelings for the younger woman, real, soft feelings, they are at the back of her mind, suffering to the immense attraction and lust she’s currently experiencing.

When their eyes lock, it seems they both have an idea of what is to follow.

Haseul’s gavel barely manages to reach the block before the two are scrambling to gather their things and make a hasty exit.

They reach the entryway at the same time, and, always the gentlewoman, Jinsol indicates Jungeun exits first. Whether she really is being polite or just wants an unbridled view of Jungeun’s ass, Jungeun isn’t sure. But the look in the blonde’s eyes definitely suggests the latter.

Jungeun reaches the main corridor, Jinsol hot on her tail, and is immediately blinded by camera flashes and her ears are overwhelmed with incessant questioning.

“Ms. Kim! How did you manage to turn that around?”

“Ms. Jung! Any thoughts on the progress of the case? How confident are you now that you seem to have lost the edge?”

Jinsol huffs and stands a bit closer behind Jungeun, hand resting on the shorter woman’s lower back. She presses gently, indicating she’s in a bit of a hurry.

Jungeun, however, wants to savour the moment a little.

“You know what I always say, it’s not over until it’s over. Just had to find the right hole to poke,” Jungeun smiles, eyes glistening with satisfaction.

“Shut up,” Jinsol murmurs in her ear, sending yet another shiver down her spine. She’s already sensitive enough, and Jinsol’s increasingly persistent pressure on her lower back isn’t doing anything to help.

Jungeun thanks the reporters and tries to lead them towards their stairwell and away from prying eyes.

“Jungeun! Kim Jungeun! I’m your biggest fan! You looked great today in court!” A girl, barely 20, Jungeun guesses, leads a different crowd of vultures towards Jinsol and Jungeun’s location.

“Sorry ladies, in a bit of a rush. Maybe next time,” Jinsol winks, causing a few of the fangirls to swoon. The distraction works, and Jinsol practically pushes Jungeun through the doorway and they finally enter the stairwell.

Away from prying eyes, the bustling of the entryway muffled, all that the two can focus on is their own heavy breathing.

Before Jungeun can do anything, do what she has been fantasizing about for the past few weeks, Jinsol grabs her hand and leads her down floor by floor, until they reach the bottom.

Jungeun assumes she’s being led to Jinsol’s car. She’s always down for a bit of car sex, even though the lack of privacy would definitely be a factor. But, Jinsol is unpredictable, and they end up in a small outcropping down the hallway, sandwiched in between a thermostat and a water heater.

“Sorry, I just know there are cameras on every floor,” Jinsol says, suddenly a little shy. Neither can really believe they’ve come this far, and now, being almost pressed up against each other, it feels like they are living in a dream.

Jungeun doesn’t even register what Jinsol says, her eyes trained on the way Jinsol’s lips move. She’s wearing that lipstick again, and Jungeun can’t take her eyes off of it.

Jinsol notices, and smiles, causing Jungeun to look up and meet her gaze.

They both know that everything is about to change, but neither are quite ready for how much.

Jinsol takes a cautious step closer, hands moving to Jungeun’s waist. She arches an eyebrow, and Jungeun takes that as her cue. She can’t wait any longer.

She surges forward and captures Jinsol’s lips in her own.

Everything Jungeun has been suppressing bursts out like a firework, and she almost melts in Jinsol’s hold. Her hands rush out to hold onto Jinsol’s shoulders in fear she might just topple over.

Jinsol is an amazing kisser, which isn’t really surprising. Jungeun wonders if there is anything the blonde isn’t good at. How annoying.

But that annoyance is short-lived, with Jinsol’s hands moving around to rest on her lower back and the blonde kissing her with an intensity that matches her own, she feels the air around her get thick with tension, almost weighing her down.

Jinsol, however, feels as light as a feather. The way Jungeun’s lips move against her’s, the way they are both in such a rush but at the same time know that they have plenty of time. They way Jungeun sighs lightly when Jinsol prods her lips with her tongue, looking to deepen the kiss.

Jungeun’s hands move down Jinsol’s arms, and she barely holds back a moan when she feels the toned muscles she’d noticed earlier. She squeezes them slightly, and Jinsol smiles so wide she’s forced to break the kiss.

“Find something you like?” she teases, only retreating far enough to get a good glimpse of Jungeun’s face.

The brunette is breathing deeply, chest heaving, face red, and eyes filled with lust. At the sight, Jinsol feels her core spike with heat, and she immediately regrets pulling away.

Before she can reconnect their lips, Jungeun’s face paints a smirk of her own, and she places a hand on Jinsol’s chest.

“Oh, you want to talk? Okay, we could talk about how I just wiped the floor with your case with a total shot in the dark. Or maybe about how attractive you found it? Or mayb-”

Jinsol rolls her eyes, fed up with Jungeun’s gloating. She guides Jungeun backwards until the brunette is pressed up against the wall, and that cuts off her pride parade quick enough.

Without another word, Jinsol kisses her again, with much more desire than before. Jungeun might have had her win in the courtroom, but Jinsol will be damned if she lets her win again.

Jungeun, who is quite fond of being in control, happily lets Jinsol have her way. Seeing Jinsol so angry, and successfully giving the blonde a taste of her own medicine, turns Jungeun on to no end.

Jinsol pulls back again, and before Jungeun is given the chance to protest, she feels hot lips attached to her neck, sucking and nipping at the protruding vein while a thigh finds its way in between her legs, pressing hard.

With the buffer of Jinsol’s lips nowhere to be found, Jungeun can’t help the moan the blonde’s actions elicits, and it echoes through the stairwell, loud and clear.

They both pause, but for different reasons. Jungeun is shocked Jinsol has arisen such a reaction out of her so soon, and is equally alarmed at how much she is feeling for the other woman. But, she’s sure this is just sex. It has been a while, she doesn’t really get out much, and Jinsol is super attractive, and maybe the many complications of their situation adds more fuel to the regular fire.

Jinsol, however, is now reminded of the situation the two find themselves in. As much as she wants this, wants what they are doing to continue, she can’t help but consider her worries from earlier. She doesn’t think she can handle sleeping with Jungeun, being intimate with her in that way, and nothing ever come out of it. She’s too far gone.

Jinsol backs away slightly and finds the courage to ask the question that has been on her lips all morning.

“Listen, if we are going to do this, I need to know. Is this going to mean anything? Because I honestly don’t think I can go through with this if it’s just going to be… you know, sex.”

Jungeun feels like a bucket of ice water has been dumped on her head.

Staring at Jinsol, the hope in her eyes, makes her feel sick. All of those feelings she chose to ignore are back, louder than ever, making their presence known.

Still, she’s so sure that they are just feelings of lust, feelings that have been building up through tense encounters and fierce words. They always appeared whenever she found Jinsol particularly attractive, right? That must be it. That has to be it.

Because the alternative simply isn’t an option.

Jungeun assumes they’ll probably go away if they have sex. That’s one of the reasons she’s here in the first place. Well, she can’t deny she doesn’t want to sleep with the older woman, but the added bonus of her newfound feelings disappearing doesn’t hurt.

And she’s willing to do anything to make that happen.

“Yes, yeah, of course it will. I’m glad we feel the same way,” Jungeun admits, trying her best to sell the lie. She paints a picture of shyness, hoping Jinsol takes the bait.

Little does she know, the only person she’s lying to is herself.

Jinsol grins brightly, the unbridled happiness causing Jungeun’s stomach to churn. So, she kisses it off, trying to bring Jinsol’s attention back to the matter at hand.

At the confirmation, and the newfound possibilities endless, Jinsol obliges. She’s sure they’ll have plenty of time to talk at a later date.

Jungeun, with a newfound eagerness, lets her hand roam downwards to Jinsol’s belt, tongue feuding with Jinsol’s. But Jinsol pulls away, realizing if they don’t leave soon they never will.

“Should we go back to my place?” she asks, her hands moving to hold onto Jungeun’s exploratory ones.

“Mine is probably closer,” Jungeun mutters, finding it incredibly hard to meet Jinsol’s gaze. “I live a couple blocks away.”

Jinsol halts her thumb from drawing little patterns on Jungeun’s hands, and drops them altogether.

“You live a couple of blocks away and you still drive that outlandish car everyday?”

At the anger in Jinsol’s tone, Jungeun finally looks up. The intensity, the desire, the irritation, with no trace of tenderness or care, that she can deal with.

She smirks. “Yeah. What are you going to do about it?”

Jinsol feels the ache between her legs get stronger, and she grabs Jungeun’s wrist and pulls her towards the exit.

“I’ll follow you. If you don’t drive 20 over I’m going to turn around and go home.”

-

_**Tuesday March 31rst, 2020** _

Jinsol sighs dreamily as she watches the second hand of the courtroom clock tick along. The windows in the room allow streaks of mid-afternoon sunlight to illuminate the many faces packed to hear the conclusion to the case, but Jinsol has her mind set on the one yet to arrive.

It’s uncharacteristic of Jungeun to be late, there are only five minutes until court is to commence, and if Jinsol wasn’t living in dreamland, she might have found that particularly odd.

But, as it stands, Jinsol has been replaying the events of the previous Thursday in her mind like clockwork.

The two were tangled up in each other from the moment they entered the threshold of Jungeun’s apartment, awake until well into the night and sleeping until late the next morning. If it wasn’t for Jungeun’s dentist appointment around noon, Jinsol is sure they would have stayed in bed all day.

They didn’t get to talk much, which disappointed Jinsol a little, but what they did engage in was nothing near disappointing. Easily the best sex she’s ever had, without a doubt.

But it also wasn’t until she’d returned home that she realized they didn’t even exchange numbers, too caught up in the haze of each other’s desire.

No matter, though, as Jinsol is sure that those things will come now that she knows her feelings are reciprocated. Even if she had any doubt in Jungeun’s words, her actions that night surely sent them away.

What is next, however, Jinsol isn’t sure. She hopes they can talk when Jungeun eventually shows up, and she’d like to officially ask her out on a date. It feels like a simple formality at this point, but one she feels they should address.

The only factor that is giving her pause is Eclipse, obviously. As much as she’d like to ignore that Jungeun works for the company Jinsol hates more than anything on Earth, it’s more than difficult.

But, after the night they spent together, Jinsol thinks Jungeun is worth the risk. Worth the extra effort, and worth the potential heartbreak that would come.

Speaking of which, Jungeun finally enters the courthouse, her bag barely hanging onto her shoulder by its strap and her usually airtight bun letting a few loose hairs fly.

She’s never been this late for court before, and with her collective 8 hours of sleep in the past few nights, she hauls herself up the few flights of stairs as fast as she could.

While Jinsol is elated after Thursday’s events, Jungeun is anything but.

Not only does she feel terrible about lying to Jinsol, but it seems to have been in vain anyways, as whenever she thinks about the blonde and their time together, those feelings that she had prayed would vanish make themselves known again.

She doesn’t know what to do, and she knows that Jinsol is going to expect something from her today. She’d managed to distract the older woman from trying to talk in detail long enough, and her dentist appointment was truly her saving grace, but there is no escaping her now.

And, as Jungeun enters the courtroom and immediately feels all eyes on her, she meets the only ones that truly matter and feels her stomach drop and those feelings triple in size.

Jinsol. As gorgeous as always, unrestrained joy characterizing her ever-expressive eyes and perfect smile. The woman who, on a turn of a dime, has completely changed Jungeun’s whole perception of her. All because of one stupid, passing comment.

Jungeun shuts her eyes, battling those unwanted feelings down, trying to send them away to a deep, dark place, so she never has to question their true meaning.

The more she represses, the more she lives in a surface-level world, the more she lives in a constant state of oblivion, the less she’ll have to lose. The less she’ll have to give up, to question about herself.

And now, it’s become her reality.

Opening her eyes, Jungeun ignores the prying eyes and makes her way to her seat. She glances in Jinsol’s direction, managing only a small smile before the judge enters the room.

Jungeun breaks the gaze, not being able to maintain it longer than a few seconds. The brightness in Jinsol’s eyes is too much, and she turns away fast enough that she misses the way it dwindles slightly.

“Good afternoon, everyone. This is the last meeting for Case #544 of the Seoul High Court. The defendant, Eclipse Ltd., has pled not guilty on account of breach of the Proper Disposal Act…” Haseul pauses. She should have written down the specifics.

“Page 312, section 8, your honour,” Jinsol supplies, extremely chipper.

Not only is she happy about the whole Jungeun situation, but she’s about 95% confident she’s going to win this case.

Jungeun’s efforts from the last trial will definitely have made the decision a bit more difficult, but Jinsol is sure she’s done enough to win, and give Eclipse the hefty fine they deserve.

“Thank you, again, Ms. Jung,” Haseul responds. “I now ask the jury, what is your verdict?”

One of the jurors stands and passes an envelope into Haseul’s hands. From where she’s sitting, Jungeun knows it reads guilty. She’s just lucky this case wasn’t at the forefront of her superior’s agendas. They couldn’t care less about a breach of some disposal act.

Haseul clears her throat and opens the envelope.

“We, the jury, find Eclipse Ltd. guilty on all charges.”

Cheers erupt from the crowd, and Jinsol’s smile somehow widens even more.

“A fine of $150,000 will be sent to Eclipse Ltd. for their misconduct. I’d like to thank you all for attending,” Haseul concludes, and lets out a deep sigh.

While not the worst that the feud between Blue Betta and Eclipse has had to offer, she definitely still needs a lie down after the constant swarm of press that has followed her every move for the past month.

Jinsol notices the judge’s antsiness and quickly puts on her grey blazer and gathers up her things. She manages to catch Haseul before she can make her escape and reaches out a hand.

“Thank you, judge. It was a pleasure,” she grins. Haseul smiles back and obliges, shaking the blonde’s hand.

“Likewise. I can’t say I hope to see you again soon, however,” Haseul chuckles.

Haseul’s gaze shifts over to the younger lawyer, who is focused on the activities of several birds nested in a tree just outside the courtroom. She waits a few moments to see if the brunette will follow Jinsol’s lead, but her mind seems to be preoccupied.

As Haseul retreats for a much needed rest, Jinsol also turns to look at Jungeun. She sighs at how ethereal she looks, but she notices a few differences in Jungeun’s usual appearance.

If Jinsol were asked to describe it, she would say Jungeun looks lost, not like herself at all.

Hoping it is just the aftermath of the loss, Jungeun does hate to lose, Jinsol adjusts the strap on her shoulder and practically skips her way over to Jungeun. At the bound of her steps, Jungeun freezes, and hesitantly gives Jinsol her attention.

Jinsol’s face turns into a pout, and at the clear mockery, Jungeun can’t help but roll her eyes.

“You seem a little rattled there, gorgeous. Could it be because you just lost to the greatest lawyer to ever live?” Jinsol pauses, eyes moving towards the window in a dreamlike fashion.

“I can see it now. A big, grand statue of myself right in front of this building, the words ‘Jung Jinsol, Better Than Kim Jungeun’ written underneath. Fitting, don’t you think?” the blonde asks cheekily.

Jungeun glares at her in response, but is silently thankful their dynamic seems to have remained the same. Arrogant, cocky, annoying Jinsol is what she is used to. Maybe they can just pretend the whole thing never happened.

“Yeah, it is fitting that you will never be mentioned without my name as well. Almost as if your only relevance involves me,” Jungeun spits back, smirk starting to grow.

Jinsol narrows her eyes. “Keep telling yourself that.”

Jungeun doesn’t give a response and waits a beat, hoping Jinsol will take her leave. But, the blonde remains standing in front of her, waiting expectantly.

“Hurry up, what are you waiting for?” Jinsol asks, impatiently

Sighing, Jungeun resentfully accepts that losing the case might not be the worst part of her day.

“Nothing, sorry.” She gathers her things and follows Jinsol into the main hall.

Jungeun is immediately thankful the swarms of reporters and fans alike are distracted by a murder trial happening one room over. She’s hoping to avoid a large audience when shit inevitably hits the fan.

“So there’s this new barbeque place that just opened up near my apartment, we could go for an early dinner?” Jinsol asks as her hand tries to make its way into Jungeun’s.

As if she’d been burned, Jungeun retracts her hand quickly and looks around to make sure nobody bore witness. You’d think they’d just committed a crime with how petrified she looks.

Jinsol’s brow furrows for a moment before it smooths in realization. “Oh right, sorry. You’re right, we should keep the PDA to a minimum here. Don’t want anyone from Eclipse catching on that their best lawyer is dating Blue Betta’s.”

Jungeun’s eyes widen and her jaw drops. She tries to say something, but her mouth just keeps opening and closing.

Jinsol’s confusion returns. “What, did I say something wrong?”

Jungeun does another scan of the room and decides this will be best dealt with in privacy. She drags Jinsol towards their stairwell, but Jinsol resists and stops them in their tracks. They are still out of the way from most of the commotion, except for the lines of offices along each wall between them.

Jungeun starts to get nervous, her fingers picking at her cuticles. She’s not sure she has the courage to do this here, but she has to.

“What is going on? I’m confused, you said you felt the same as me but now you’re acting weird,” Jinsol questions. She wishes Jungeun would look at her, but the brunette seems to be focused on everything else besides the woman in front of her.

Jinsol is starting to get the sense that her and Jungeun were not as much on the same page as she originally thought.

“We aren’t dating,” Jungeun mutters. Jinsol almost doesn’t catch it, but she does, and her heart sinks.

Clinging onto a sliver of hope, she reaches for Jungeun’s hand again. “I mean, I know I haven’t asked yet but sti-” she doesn’t even finish her sentence as Jungeun retracts her hand as quickly as before.

When the brunette finally meets Jinsol’s gaze, her heart crumbles at the hurt that’s evident. Any trace of the happiness from earlier is gone.

“I don’t understand,” Jinsol says, voice close to cracking. Not from sadness, but from the anger threatening to burst from her veins.

“I can’t… do this, Jinsol.”

Jinsol’s eyes narrow, but not in jest. “Do what, Jungeun,” she demands.

Jungeun vaguely gestures between them. “This. Us. It can’t happen.”

“And why the fuck not?” Jinsol steps closer, her temper starting to get the better of her.

Jungeun stands her ground, but she’s really wishing they had made it to the stairwell as a few heads start to turn.

“Listen I-”

“No, you know what, I think I understand. You lied to me, you said what I wanted to hear just so you could sleep with me, and now what. You’re done? Just a big ‘fuck you’ to me and my feelings?”

Jungeun winces. It sounds worse out loud, but she can’t deny any of it. The anger and hurt on Jinsol’s face makes her hope for the ground to open and swallow her up.

She has to remind herself that this is for the best. She wanted this in the first place, she can’t take it back now.

So, she nods.

Whatever Jinsol was going to say gets caught in her throat, and almost at the flick of a switch, her anger dissipates. The hurt, though, the hurt remains, and Jungeun thinks that’s much, much worse.

Jinsol shakes her head, almost in disbelief.

And as she walks away, as Jungeun watches her retreating figure in anguish, Jungeun thinks that maybe she shouldn’t have ignored those pesky, stubborn, good-for-nothing feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...don't kill me! there's more don't worry :)
> 
> pls comment your thoughts!!!


	2. case #608

_**Monday August 3rd, 2020** _

Jungeun sighs as she rests her head on the leather steering wheel of her BMW. The air conditioning cranked to full blast does nothing to stop her rapid heart beat, and the soft hum of the radio only makes her more anxious.

She has been dreading this day for months, so much so that she seriously considered faking some sort of tragic illness in order to avoid appearing in court.

But alas, her pride and lust for competition has gotten the better of her once again, and she sits in her car in the parkade of the Seoul High Court preparing to go up against none other than Blue Betta Environmental Defense.

And Jung Jinsol, more importantly.

Jungeun isn’t sure how they’ve managed to avoid each other since the conclusion of their last case. They both frequent the courthouse often enough that she is always checking behind corners for a familiar head of blonde hair.

After that dreadful encounter, Jungeun couldn’t shake the feelings of guilt and sorrow for days. Despite it going exactly the way she wanted, she felt herself becoming sad, hollow even, because she’d seemingly burned that bridge with Jinsol so far beyond repair.

One warm April night, after a few too many glasses of wine, Jungeun was sitting on the balcony of her apartment and decided to finally take a peek inside that locked chest labelled “Feelings for Jinsol” that she so dubiously kept closed.

When she realized that those feelings definitely classified as “more than sex,” she slammed it back up again, because that alone brought up a whole new multitude of problems.

Not only did Jungeun send away the only woman she’s felt something towards in the better part of a decade, acting on those feelings could seriously threaten the one thing she has to show for the many years of exhaustive labour she’s endured.

So, she did what she does best, and decided not to think about it.

By a lucky coincidence, shortly after the conclusion of the last lawsuit, the brand new pipeline that Eclipse had spent millions of dollars on was completed. It stretched from the southern coast to north of Seoul, and it was supposed to be one of Eclipse’s most profitable ventures.

It burst within a week of operation, right in the middle of one of the largest national parks in Korea.

So, Jungeun has devoted almost every waking hour of the last few months to building her defense against Blue Betta, who are suing for negligence. They assume Eclipse knew of the faulty mechanics, but proceeded with the build anyways, leading to the destruction of countless habitats, and even the injury of a few workers.

Countless nights at the office, endless phone calls with anyone that could present some shred of evidence in her company’s favour, and her superiors on her ass more than they had ever been. To say she’s feeling a little drained would be putting it mildly.

And now, she’s sitting in her car, too terrified to get out and meet the woman who she may or may not have strong, intense, complicated feelings for. And defend her good for nothing company from one of the worst scandals in their history.

Jungeun can’t say she’s excited to get out of her car.

But, she knows she’s only delaying the inevitable, so she reluctantly grabs her briefcase and best friend, her to-go mug, and exits her car. She only manages a few steps towards the stairwell entrance when she notices a figure approaching from the other end of the lot.

Jungeun has to do a double take, because despite the change from bright blonde to fearsome black, the characteristic glint of her eyes and curve of her jawline are unmissable.

She drops her briefcase, and the commotion causes Jinsol to look up from her phone and meet Jungeun’s panicked gaze.

Time must stop, Jungeun is sure. She can hear every rustle of the leaves in the light breeze, can feel every ray of the sun hitting her skin. Can almost smell Jinsol’s perfume from where she’s standing.

She’s too far away to read the emotions in Jinsol’s eyes, but she’s sure none of them are good, and Jinsol swiftly makes her way into the courthouse, probably having afforded Jungeun only a few seconds of her time.

One thing Jungeun is sure of, though, is that the locked chest has been busted completely open, no chance of ever being closed again.

She immediately retreats back to the safety of her BMW and screams loudly into her briefcase in frustration, banging her fists on the steering wheel in agony.

Avoiding Jinsol as long as she has has given her the opportunity to ignore those feelings, and it had been so long that she’d hoped that maybe they’d seen themselves out, never to be heard from again.

That clearly is not the case, as they seem to be back and louder than ever, given a megaphone just by simply making eye contact with Jinsol. Now, she has nowhere to hide, and she has no choice but to think about how she’s made maybe one of the biggest mistakes of her life.

That may seem dramatic, but the floodgates have opened, and she’s starting to piece together the thoughts in her head and the feelings in her heart in a way she refused to before, only now realizing just how blind and in denial she was.

Blind to the butterflies in her chest whenever Jinsol would smile, even smirk, her way. Blind to the excitement she’d always feel whenever she knew she’d face Jinsol in court. Blind to the way Jinsol’s laugh would send her heart into overdrive.

How she managed to convince herself that these feelings were simply lust is almost baffling, but Jungeun equally isn’t surprised. Giving up a chance at happiness to stay in the confines of her minimalistic life, anchored by her one true passion, seems exactly like something she would do.

Of course, she’s come to this realization a little too late. She’s sure Jinsol wants absolutely nothing to do with her now, and she can’t blame her. Jungeun hopes the now dark-haired woman will at least give her the chance to defend herself, outside of court this time. Maybe they can at least keep that friendly rivalry alive.

However, Jungeun’s intuitions are seldom wrong, and Jinsol is feeling anything but friendly towards the brunette.

As the older lawyer takes her seat in the courtroom, the largest in the courthouse that is already packed to the brim, she huffs bitterly.

Jinsol has done a decent enough job forgetting about Jungeun’s entire existence. She’s hung out with her friends, gone drinking, adopted a cat. Jungeun seemed like a distant memory, but seeing her in the parking lot brought all of that hurt and anger right back up.

And, unfortunately, the previously faded feelings along with them.

Jinsol can’t help it, she can’t describe the attraction to the younger lawyer that she simply cannot shake. At this rate, Jinsol doesn’t think her feelings will ever go away.

That doesn’t mean she is in any way wanting to initiate something with Jungeun again. She’d thought about looking her up, going for one last hurrah at one of their apartments because yes, the sex was that good, but that idea was short-lived once she was reminded of how that ended the last time.

Right now, Jinsol doesn’t want to look at the other woman in a context that isn’t law-related. And even within their case, knowing Jungeun is defending such a horrendous act, Jinsol thinks even that might be asking too much.

Her ears pick up the large, wooden door opening and closing, and watches in her peripherals as her opponent takes her seat. Jinsol keeps her gaze trained on the judge’s empty seat, even though she’s sure she feels eyes boring into her cheek.

“All rise for the honourable Judge Im. Court is now in session.”

A judge, Yeojin, even younger than Judge Jo, which Jinsol wasn’t sure was possible, enters from the chambers. She resembles Haseul slightly, but she seems perkier, much too excited to be residing over a case as gruesome as this.

“Good morning, everyone. This is quite the crowd we have here, I hope our lawyers have prepared a great show for us,” Judge Im smirks, glancing between the two. She notices one looks to be on a warpath, while the other seems to be in the midst of a midlife crisis.

“This is Case #608 of the Seoul High Court. Eclipse Ltd. is being sued by Blue Betta Environmental Defense on the grounds of negligence leading to personal injury,” Yeojin recites. “I see. Ms. Jung, why don’t you start us off with your opening statements.”

Jinsol nods and stands from her seat, her face stoic as she moves to the center of the courtroom, all eyes on her.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming today. I’m assuming we all know the details of this case so I won’t disclose them further,” Jinsol begins.

Already, Jungeun is thrown off guard. This isn’t the charismatic, confident Jinsol that she is so used to seeing. Her approach this time around is different, and it leaves an unsettled feeling in Jungeun’s stomach, but she remains utterly captivated.

“I’m going to be honest here, waking up on the morning of May 1st to see the news that a pipe had burst in the middle of Woraksan National Park made me sick to my stomach. And then when I found out it was an Eclipse Ltd. pipeline, well…” Jinsol trails off, shaking her head slightly.

“I am in utter shock that we are even here today to deal with the aftermath of this disaster, and knowing that Eclipse Ltd. knew of the problems with this pipeline, knew the risks to not only the environment but to their own workers, and proceeded with it anyways, it’s just unbelievable,” Jinsol continues.

“There is going to be a lot of bloodshed in this courtroom over the next couple of weeks. I ask the jury to keep one thought present, through all of the bullshit and lies that will come out, please let the wellbeing of those involved remain the first priority, because they are the ones I am here for.”

Jinsol finally turns towards Jungeun, gaze cold and dark as she stares daggers into Jungeun’s wide eyes.

“I am here for them, and I will get their revenge.”

Jinsol takes her seat once more, the silence in the courtroom so deafening she thinks she can hear every intake of breath.

No more playing games, no more having fun. Jungeun didn’t want things to be personal, so Jinsol won’t let her get away with a damn thing.

Jungeun, incredibly reluctant to follow that enthralling sermon, stands in the exact spot Jinsol had just occupied. Now, she can definitely smell Jinsol’s perfume.

She sighs, and tries desperately to focus her mind on the matter at hand. Her job is on the line, and she’s never let her personal life interfere with it before, so she’s surprised at how much she is struggling to immerse herself in this case as she often does.

Trying her best to shake it off, Jungeun meets the harsh eyes of the jurors and takes in a breath.

“I understand how terrible this looks. Frankly, I wouldn’t blame any one of you for tuning out every word I say from now until the conclusion of this case,” Jungeun admits. “But that would be a mistake.”

“Even if Eclipse Ltd. were composed of these horrible, money-hungry, egotistical monsters, does that mean they are capable of such a terrible act as this? In my opinion, to sign off on what was basically a ticking time bomb, one would have to be a sociopath. And, despite their reputations, I can assure the jury that nobody at Eclipse falls under that description.”

Weirdly enough, this may be the hardest case of Jungeun’s career, but not because she has to dig Eclipse out of their own, self-made hole. This time, Eclipse Ltd. are actually innocent. The hard part will be convincing the jury.

“Throughout this case, evidence will be presented that will counteract Blue Betta’s claim, and I will also ask the jury to please remain objective. Whatever feelings you may have regarding my employers is irrelevant, not when real people have been hurt,” Jungeun says.

“I assure everyone on the jury, and everyone in this room, that the damage will be repaired and restored, regardless of what happens here in this courtroom. The solution will not be found in the confines of these walls, and despite Blue Betta’s immense heroism, sueing Eclipse Ltd. is not the best course of action,” Jungeun concludes. “Not when they are innocent.”

Jungeun hears a scoff, and turns to look at Jinsol. She is seething in rage, almost vibrating in her seat. Jungeun takes her seat quickly in case Jinsol jumps up and punches her in the face.

“Alright, well, that was very... intense,” Yeojin says. “But, that’s it for today, folks! Court is dismissed.”

Jinsol is out of the courtroom before Jungeun even hears the gavel fall, and she scrambles out in an attempt to catch her. She’s not sure why, she hasn’t yet thought about what she wants to say to the older woman, but she has to say something.

Jungeun catches Jinsol’s black locks as the stairwell door closes behind her. Jungeun quickly follows, and when she opens the door, she sees Jinsol standing there, waiting for her. And she’s pissed.

“Listen, I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. Even if you hadn’t done… you know, all that shit, the fact that you’re actually defending Eclipse from this is mindblowing,” Jinsol spits. Jungeun feels incredibly small under her gaze, and she hates that she’s so immensely attracted to angry Jinsol. This black hair really is a blessing.

“There isn’t going to be any banter, any joking around, any of that. Don’t bother trying to talk to me outside of that courtroom again.”

With that, Jinsol descends down the stairs with haste, leaving a bombarded Jungeun in her wake.

Jungeun leans up against the wall behind her and slides down until she hits the ground, burying her face into her hands.

How the hell has she managed to put herself into this mess. And how the hell is she supposed to get out of it.

-

_**Tuesday August 11th, 2020** _

Despite it being over a week since the opening trial, Jungeun still feels like she’s hungover from the overwhelming thoughts that have been buzzing around in her brain ever since. Of course, the lack of sleep doesn’t help either, and she trudges up the stairwell at a snail’s pace. She should really do something about that, but she has been very much preoccupied.

Jinsol’s words still ring through her ears, but they are futile in scaring away the feelings that have so kindly erupted from Jungeun’s unconscious. Now that she’s aware of their existence, and just how deep they really go, even a slap to the face might not be enough.

But, Jungeun needs to get her priorities in check, at least for the time in which she is in front of a jury. She’s having a real hard time getting into work-mode, which has never happened before, and she’s starting to get a little concerned. She knows how important this case is, and what could potentially happen if she loses.

And even if she didn’t know, she does when she enters the main floor and recognizes her boss sitting on one of the benches outside their designated courtroom. Jungeun can’t remember the last time she’s seen him in this building, and she knows he’s here for one thing.

Cautiously, she makes her way over to him and puts on the fakest smile she can muster in the hopes the inevitable blows will be softened. When he hears her approaching, he looks up from his iPad and gives her a tight-lipped smile, placing the device into his briefcase.

“Jungeun, I’m glad you’re here.”

“Well, of course I’m here, it’s my job,” Jungeun tries to joke, tries to lighten his mood. It doesn’t work, as his face remains emotionless.

“Jungeun, you seem distracted,” he says, getting right to the chase. “I know you’ve been working hard to prepare for this case but something about your attitude just feels… off.”

Jungeun’s eyes widen. She didn’t think anybody had noticed her change in demeanor over the past few months. Nobody at her workplace really knew her well enough to distinguish between her moods, or so she thought.

“I-I don’t know what you mean, sir,” she stammers, barely managing to maintain the fierce eye contact.

“I think you do. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I shouldn’t have to remind you about what’s on the line here. You know what’ll happen if you lose, you understand me?” He takes a menacing step towards Jungeun, causing her, on instinct, to retreat a couple in tandem.

While not a direct threat, Jungeun understands the implications loud and clear. She tries to ignore the way her stomach starts to churn and her palms start to sweat.

“Yes, I understand,” she replies, meekly. Glancing at one of the many clocks lined on the buttercream walls, Jungeun indicates towards the entrance to the courtroom, and he nods dismissively, pulling out his iPad once more.

With a heavy intake of breath, Jungeun makes her way inside and ignores the camera flashes that greet her.

She was honestly expecting worse. She has definitely been on the receiving end of a few nasty chew-outs, but she usually brushes it off and attributes it to the asshole-nature of most of her coworkers.

This time, though, the mere suggestion that her integrity has been compromised, after everything she has devoted, everything she has given up, for this damn company pisses Jungeun off. Especially when a reminder of those sacrifices is sitting just a few metres away.

Said reminder is once again completely ignoring Jungeun’s existence.

Upon reflection, Jinsol realizes she may have been a bit harsh towards Jungeun the previous week. Something about Jungeun’s demeanor during the last trial seemed a little different, uncharacteristically deflated and disoriented, and Jinsol is only partially hoping that a sudden wave of regret over her actions might contribute to that.

The anger is largely gone, and it has been for a while. In the heat of the moment, and at seeing Jungeun again, it momentarily took control over her better judgement, but Jinsol knows she’s not angry with Jungeun anymore, truly.

Is she still hurt? Yes, but the more she thinks about it, the more she just becomes confused instead of upset. If Jinsol were forced to place a bet back then, she would have bet anything that her feelings were reciprocated, which made the rejection so baffling and out of nowhere. There had to have been a reason Jungeun acted the way they did, surely.

While she’s not sure she’s quite ready yet, Jinsol is definitely open to the idea of hearing Jungeun out, for closure’s sake, at least. Jinsol still doesn’t think pursuing anything with the younger lawyer again would be a good idea, but to at least be on good terms would be better than this... weirdness. Hopefully those pesky feelings will just fade with time.

But for now, she has much bigger fish to fry.

Judge Im entering the courtroom signals silence once again, and she takes her seat, placing her garish Starbucks plastic mug right beside her gavel and block.

“Good afternoon, everyone. Who’s ready to have some fun?” she grins, completely juxtaposed to the tense atmosphere of the courtroom.

“Let’s see… Ms. Kim, I understand you have a witness for us today?”

Jungeun nods, and turns around to signal a woman in a tight black dress and 5-inch heels, chestnut hair cut into a perfect, chin-length bob. She exudes confidence as she steps up to the stand and swears in.

“Please state your name, for the record,” Jungeun begins. She prays that her star witness will give her a fighting chance to win this case. She’s still feeling fairly uneasy, and the daggered stares of her superiors aren’t doing anything to help.

“Ha Sooyoung. It is a pleasure,” the woman grins, showing off her pearl-white teeth.

“Ms. Ha, what is your occupation?”

“I am an architect. Well, I specialize in pipelines, so I suppose engineer would be more accurate, but it doesn’t have the same ring to it, don’t you think?”

Jinsol rolls her eyes. If anybody thought Johnny was obnoxious, this woman is on another level.

“Sure, and you were brought on by Eclipse Ltd. to work on this project?” Jungeun asks, gaze flitting between her boss and Sooyoung.

“Yes, oh gosh I was so excited! This pipeline was my magnum opus, my pride and joy. I devoted years into planning every screw and every panel,” Sooyoung responds, dreamily.

Jinsol narrows her eyes. Is this the woman that is responsible for the immeasurable amounts of damage to a national park? And she’s talking about the pipeline as if it were her child?

“Did you have any idea that the design was faulty?” Jungeun asks.

Sooyoung frantically shakes her head. “No! I would never have closed the project if I thought there was a single thing wrong with it, trust me.”

“And have you ever had any sort of leakage or spill from one of your pipelines before?”

“Nope, never. Not a single one, before this one of course. How tragic, my perfect streak,” Sooyoung smiles, eyes glistening with pride.

Jinsol has to sit on her hands to keep from punching her table in rage.

“Alright. Thank you, Ms. Ha.” Jungeun retreats to her seat and lets out a puff of air. She briefly registers Jinsol approaching the stand when she feels her phone vibrate in her briefcase perched against her chair’s leg.

She ignores it for a moment, wanting to focus on Jinsol’s interrogation. But she feels her chair being kicked lightly, startling her.

Jungeun knows exactly who is sitting behind her, and so she sneakily reaches down to retrieve it.

_Good work bringing in this hottie, she’ll save our asses for sure. I certainly don’t think I could rule against that ass._

Jungeun rolls her eyes. You come out as a lesbian at your workplace and all of a sudden your boss thinks you want to join in on degrading women.

Before she can pocket her phone once more, it vibrates again.

_Isn’t it funny that this is the first oil spill since you’ve started that we actually aren’t at fault for? Lol. Keep it up._

For some reason, Jungeun’s heart stills. She knows this, of course, she’s been there for it all.

Maybe it’s this case, maybe it’s the influence of a certain black-haired lawyer, or maybe Jungeun has just reached a tipping point. But staring down at her phone, analyzing the nonchalance in the words from her boss at a time that should be void of indifference, Jungeun comes to yet another life-changing realization. One much more sickening than the last.

Jungeun hates her job.

It’s why she cannot connect herself to this case. She doesn’t want to. Doesn’t want to defend her awful company from yet another of their infinitely many screw-ups, each with less care than the last.

And as she looks up, pale as a ghost, to Jinsol standing on the opposite end of the courtroom, berating her witness, Jungeun is hit with an absolute tsunami of regret.

She can’t focus on anything else, her thoughts descending into anarchy as she starts to question her entire life, everything that she’s built and worked for. Jungeun doesn’t know when working for Eclipse became a chore instead of a challenge, but that hardly seems to matter now. Not when she has absolutely no idea what she is going to do next.

Because if she quits, what does she have?

“That’ll be all, Judge. Thank you,” Jinsol concludes, taking her seat.

Frustratingly, Ha Sooyoung seems air tight, hell-bent that she didn’t know of any flaws in her design. Jinsol isn’t sure that if there was she would actually have admitted it, her pride probably preventing her from doing so.

But, Jinsol is instead more confused at the total silence from her opposition during her interrogation. Some of her questions were a little questionable, and she expected Jungeun to pipe up in objection numerous times, but it never happened.

As Judge Im closes the court, Jinsol spares a glance towards Jungeun, curiosity, and concern, getting the better of her.

The sight alarms her a little. Jungeun looks like she’s seen a ghost, her eyes wide and trained on the floor as she nervously fumbles with her hands.

Jungeun must feel the gaze on her, and Jinsol can’t look away like usual when their eyes meet. The turmoil present in Jungeun’s eyes overwhelms Jinsol with worry, and she’s tempted to question the younger girl.

She still cares about her, after all.

Jungeun doesn’t give her the chance, however, as she gathers her things as fast as she can and escapes out of the courtroom in a flash, leaving Jinsol even more concerned.

Now, Jinsol is thinking it might be a little more than just regret over a one-night-stand.

-

_**Friday August 14th, 2020** _

“Are you sure I should be doing this?”

As they wait outside the courtroom, Jinsol glances towards her witness. She looks terrified, hands vibrating slightly.

“It’s up to you, I won’t force you. But don’t let stage fright get in the way of the opportunity to tell your side of the story,” Jinsol replies, seriously.

The witness nods and looks down to her shaking hands. The damage to them is clear as day to anyone within a couple of metres.

“Yerim?” Jinsol asks, trying to get a final answer. The courtroom is opening, and as much as she’d understand if Yerim stepped down, Jinsol is really relying on her for her case.

Running her fingers over the back of her hand and feeling the abnormal texture, Yerim sighs. If she has to live with the constant reminder of what transpired due to Eclipse’s negligence, she should at least try and leave them something to remember her by.

Plus, the severance package sucked ass.

Yerim looks up to meet Jinsol’s caring eyes and nods again, much more vigorously.

“Let’s go.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Jinsol stands and leads Yerim into the courtroom, dodging the onslaught of reporters begging for a quote.

When they reach Jinsol’s table, Jinsol is surprised to notice that Jungeun is already present, skimming over her case notes as she sips from her coffee cup.

The worry subsides slightly at Jungeun seeming semi-normal, but Jinsol still isn’t sure if the brunette has resolved any of her issues since Monday. Or what they were, of course.

She’s so tempted to ask, though. She misses Jungeun’s voice, misses teasing her, misses the glint in her eyes whenever she’s on a roll in court. No matter how hard Jinsol has tried, Jungeun will not leave her thoughts, remaining at the forefront in one way or another.

“Goooood morning everyone! How’s everyone’s morning going?” Judge Im beams as she enters the courtroom. When she doesn’t receive an answer, she cups one hand to her ear and waits patiently.

Jinsol almost laughs before realizing laughing at a judge could get her in a lot of shit.

“Good?” she offers, hoping to earn some brownie points.

“Great! Glad to hear it,” Yeojin replies, enthusiasm slightly scaring the lawyer. “Let’s get started, shall we? You’re up, Ms. Jung.”

Jinsol meets Yerim’s eyes and nods encouragingly, and the younger girl carefully makes her way up to the stand to swear in.

“My name is Choi Yerim,” she says, voice so small Jungeun barely catches it.

But she does. And her heart drops to the floor.

Choi Yerim. She was one of the workers present when the oil spill occurred. Jungeun has never met her, but she’s one of the few who were subject to permanent damage from the spill, so her name is on the list of people Jungeun hoped she’d never have to see during this case.

But, of course, here she is. All hope Jungeun had of winning this case immediately packs it’s bags and walks straight out of the courtroom, waving at Jungeun’s bosses on the way.

“I was a worker for Eclipse Ltd. I don’t work there anymore, but I was there when the… you know,” Yerim admits. She tries to look towards the jury, but when her line of sight approaches the Eclipse section, she can’t bring herself to focus on anything but the steady flow of the passing cars out the window.

“If this becomes too personal you don’t have to answer this,” Jinsol starts, glancing towards Judge Im for confirmation. The judge nods, and Jinsol continues. “Can you recount as much of the day as you can?”

Yerim shakily breathes in and out before closing her eyes.

“Yeah, okay. So we were assigned to conduct the first maintenance check of the pipeline.”

“Sorry, who is ‘we’?” Jinsol asks.

“The maintenance crew. There were about ten or so of us that were responsible for the stretch of the pipeline crossing Woraksan. The first couple of checks were fine, but once we reached the halfway point, one of us noticed some unusual readings from one of the smart pigs.”

Yerim is interrupted by a laugh from Judge Im. She can’t seem to hold it in, and it takes a few seconds for her to gather her composure.

“I’m so sorry, Ms. Choi, but you have to tell me what a smart pig is.”

Yerim smiles. “I know, the name is pretty funny. It’s basically a machine that scans the inside of the pipeline for problems. Corrosion, cracks, that kind of stuff.”

Yeojin nods, still chuckling to herself, and gestures for the witness to continue.

“We barely had time to recognize a problem when all of a sudden…” Yerim trails off, finding it hard to continue.

“Thank you, Yerim. I think we understand,” Jinsol says. Yerim is clearly still very rattled, so going into great detail isn’t really necessary on her end. Besides, Jinsol really just wanted the sympathy factor. To show Eclipse Ltd., and the jury, some of the consequences of their actions.

Jungeun feels terrible. Even if she hadn’t already come to despise her company, she probably would after looking at the damage on Yerim’s hands and the genuine trauma in her eyes. She frankly doesn’t really care that her company is innocent. Knowing they want this swept under the rug and won’t deal with it properly only adds more fuel to the fire.

Even though she’s the one holding the broom.

Yerim nods politely and Jinsol re-takes her seat.

Jungeun has no idea how to approach this without seeming like a complete asshole. But Yerim hasn’t really supplied much of her knowledge about the nature of the spill, particularly if she thought there was any negligence. Jungeun just isn’t sure if she wants to open that can of worms, given Yerim probably blames nobody but Eclipse for the damage caused to her.

She hesitantly stands from her seat and formulates a game plan in her head. Hopefully one that can save this case, but she’s not very confident.

“I would like to start by apologizing for what has happened to you. I’m sure Eclipse Ltd. has already done so but I can only imag-”

“They didn’t, actually,” Yerim interrupts. “I received a cheque in the mail that just about covered my hospital fees, and that was it.”

Jungeun squeezes her eyes shut as she hears the murmurs echo around the courtroom. She can only imagine the look on her boss’ face, so she makes sure to keep her back facing him.

“Oh, well… that is unfortunate,” Jungeun replies, awkwardly. “Um, did you or any of your coworkers manage to identify the cause of the spill before it happened?”

“No, we were all a bit more preoccupied with the gallons of oil spilling all over us.”

Jungeun sighs. Another miss.

“Right, of course… Were there any issues with the rest of the pipeline?”

“Well we obviously didn’t get to finish the rest of the maintenance and I already said that everything up until that point was fine,” Yerim answers, snarkily.

Jungeun nods, finding it incredibly hard to come up with anything to ask without sounding like an absolute jackass.

“Were there any problems during construction that you know of? Or did you hear of any issues on sections that you weren’t in charge of maintaining?” Jungeun tries.

“Objection! Compound question.”

Jungeun huffs in frustration as Jinsol’s objection is sustained.

“Fine, were ther-”

“No, I didn’t participate in the construction so I wouldn’t know and no, I didn’t hear of any other issues. Is that all?” Yerim asks, dismissively.

Jinsol raises her eyebrows. Being on the stand seems to have revitalized Yerim, with her timidness from before long forgotten. Jungeun usually wouldn’t take that kind of backtalk from a witness, but this time, she nods in defeat, her dejected demeanor now becoming familiar to Jinsol.

“No further questions, your honour,” Jungeun mumbles as she makes her way to her seat, ignoring the certain death glares that are being sent her way from all angles of the crowd.

“Well, that was informative. Thank you all, we shall resume next Thursday.”

Jungeun, trying to waste time, slowly puts her notes into her briefcase. She can hear the impatient tapping of a suede loafer from behind her, and sure enough, she meets her boss’ cold gaze when she turns around.

“Outside, now,” he utters before swiftly turning around and exiting the courtroom in a way akin to a bulldozer. He almost tramples over a few unsuspecting reporters.

Jungeun looks over in Jinsol’s direction, maybe getting a last look before she dies at the hands of her angry boss. She savours the sharpness of her jaw, the flow of her hair, the tightness of her pencil skirt.

When Jinsol looks up, she sees the lack of a spirit, a fight, that she is so used to seeing in Jungeun’s eyes, and it is quite frightening. She simply has to talk to the younger woman, her own rules be damned.

As Jungeun retreats to the main entryway, Jinsol tags along a few paces behind and watches Jungeun approach a tall man. With the way he is dressed and how angry he looks, Jinsol can only assume he’s from Eclipse.

Jinsol takes a seat on one of the benches and watches the encounter unfold with eagle eyes, ready to intervene if shit hits the fan.

“What the hell was that in there, Jungeun? Did you even go to law school?” Jungeun’s boss asks, absolutely furious. Jungeun has seen him mad before, but this is on a whole new level.

“I really didn’t expect her to find Ms. Choi, I didn’t know what to do,” Jungeun admits, meekly.

“That is literally what we pay you for. To know what the fuck to do. Seems like all that preparation was just a giant waste of time since now we are definitely going to lose this case.” He sighs, rubbing his forehead with his hand in irritation.

“Honestly I should just fire you now. Save us both the hassle and I can try and find someone else to try and salvage this fucking mess.”

Jungeun’s eyes bulge out of their sockets.

“No, no no no you can’t do that. I’ll fix this, I still have one more witness left. They’ll save it, please,” Jungeun practically begs. No amount of hatred can overtake the immense attachment she has to this job. In her eyes, she’s nothing without it.

Jungeun’s boss’ eyes narrow, as if he is mulling the idea over. The fact he thinks anyone can do a better job than Jungeun is laughable, but she’s much too worried over the concept of being unemployed to find any humour in this situation.

Still having not budged, Jungeun musters up any confidence she has left in the tank.

“Plus, have I ever steered you wrong before?”

At that, his face calms. He returns back to the stoic, emotionless persona that Jungeun is accustomed to.

“Fine. Don’t make me regret this, Kim,” he says, already pulling out his phone and walking towards the exit.

Jungeun breathes for the first time since she exited the courtroom and takes a seat down on the nearest bench. Burying her head in her hands, she tries to hold back the tears that threaten to fall from her eyes. Of anger, sadness, frustration, she’s not sure. Probably a combination of them all.

She’s about to stand when she feels someone sit next to her. Without lifting her head, Jungeun knows who it is immediately, and she freezes in place.

She’d recognize that perfume anywhere.

“That looked intense.”

Jungeun does lift her head from her hands and is met with Jinsol’s caring gaze. As much as she appreciates it, she doesn’t quite feel like she deserves it.

“I thought you said you didn’t want to talk to me,” Jungeun mumbles, fingers pulling at a loose thread from her dress pants.

“We all say things we don’t mean,” Jinsol replies. Jungeun gulps, and the air suddenly fills with an unfamiliar tension, one filled with a semblance of precariousness, as if it is one wrong move away from collapsing.

Jungeun looks up to meet Jinsol’s eyes again, and is genuinely surprised at the lack of anger or hurt that she has seen for the past few weeks. She had forgotten what it felt like when Jinsol looked at her in a way that wasn’t terrifying.

“Listen, we should tal-”

“Don’t worry about it. Water under the bridge,” Jinsol interrupts, gaze moving to the bustle of the crowd in front of them.

Jungeun doesn’t believe that for a second. There is so much that Jungeun wants to say to Jinsol now that she has been enlightened about her feelings and the stupidity that preceded them. But she gets the idea that Jinsol isn’t ready yet, so she pockets the topic for now.

“Are you okay?” Jinsol asks suddenly, after a moment or two of silence.

“What do you mean?”

“You just… don’t seem like yourself lately.”

Jungeun feels small under Jinsol’s gaze and curses her inability to hide her emotions. How Jinsol believed the lie that started this whole mess still baffles Jungeun.

She’s tempted to try and lie again, but that didn’t quite get her anywhere last time, and as much as she’s unsure of the consequences, Jungeun knows she should probably disclose some of her recent discoveries.

If Jungeun ever wants to start something with Jinsol, she’ll need to regain her trust first.

“Well, to be honest, this case has been a little eye-opening for me,” Jungeun chuckles ironically.

Jinsol furrows her brow. “How so?”

Jungeun laughs again, this time much more bitterly. She stares straight into Jinsol’s eyes, and Jinsol is surprised to see that burnt out flame flickering softly again.

“Well, it’s made me realize that maybe I had my priorities wrong, and maybe I shouldn’t have held on so tightly to this job... when I lost something more important in the process.”

Jinsol’s eyes widen, and at the truth in Jungeun’s eyes, at the conviction in her words, Jinsol finally feels a sense of clarity where she had been so confused for months. But with that clarity, it seems that even more questions have arisen.

So Jungeun really did have feelings for her? But she couldn’t risk her job at Eclipse? But now, she feels differently? Does she still have feelings for her? Is she just trying to get Jinsol to sleep with her again?

Does Jinsol still want to be with her?

When Jungeun’s hand moves to Jinsol’s leg and she starts to say something, Jinsol stands abruptly.

“I’m sorry, this is just a lot. I need to… leave, I think,” Jinsol says. She definitely needs to mull this new information over.

Jungeun nods in understanding and stands as well.

“Can I at least walk you out?”

Jinsol sighs, but agrees, and they both proceed to the stairwell with a minimum safe distance between them.

As they descend the stairs, they are reminded of the last time they were walking down flight after flight, giggling and riding a high that neither knew would plummet as drastically as it did. They both feel themselves blush as they pass the hallway leading towards that famed water heater.

They enter the warm, late summer air, and Jungeun is thankful to be finished with her day. To say it’s been a roller coaster would be an understatement, but at least she’s been able to end it on a semi-high note.

Jinsol, however, has had a bomb dropped into her lap. Jungeun, with one single statement, has caused Jinsol to re-think everything about the nature of their relationship. She has to assure herself that whatever Jungeun’s true motives were, what Jinsol herself is preventing her from sharing, doesn’t change the fact that being with Jungeun would surely end very badly.

They both turn to each other at the same time, and as their eyes meet, Jinsol finds herself forgetting the many reasons that that fact is true and Jungeun feels something that she hasn’t felt in a very, very long time.

Hope.

A hope that remains long after Jinsol’s Tesla speeds out of the parking lot.

-

_**Thursday August 20th, 2020** _

“Please state your name, for the record.”

A loud clearing of the throat echoes through the silent courtroom.

“Choi Seungcheol. Professionally known as S. Coups.”

“And what is your occupation, sir?” Jungeun asks. Merely a formality, everyone knows the identity of the man on the stand, but to see him present in court is akin to a sighting of a unicorn. Nobody can quite believe it’s really happening.

“I am the CEO of Eclipse Ltd.,” Seungcheol replies, a small smile and bright eyes contrasting his ragged features.

Jungeun really had to call in the big guns. She doesn’t know him very well, having only met him a couple of times. He largely stays to his office, making decisions and approvals with only a select few trusted associates. A mystery, even to her.

But, what she does know, is that he doesn’t quite adhere to the typical Eclipse mould. He is caring, passionate, and despite his field of work, he strives to minimize damage in any way he can. Unfortunately, when you run an oil company, there aren’t many ways to do so.

Inheriting the company from his father, who was a real dickhead, a couple years prior, Seungcheol has tried to mend the company’s tarnished image. Jungeun admires him, in all honesty.

And bringing him here today, Jungeun hopes that the jury can take his words seriously. He is her last hope of saving this case, and her job.

“How involved were you in the development of this pipeline?” Jungeun begins.

“Extremely. This was my first major project since taking over from my father, and I wanted everything to be perfect. I triple checked everything, and nothing went through without my consultation,” Seungcheol responds.

“Is there any way that an error could have gone by… unnoticed?”

Seungcheol sighs. “I want to say no, but there is always the chance that I missed something or something was miscalculated. To my knowledge, nothing should have gone wrong.” He pauses, gaze somewhat forlorn. “But it did, obviously.”

Jinsol is, frankly, amazed. Either this man is an incredibly good actor or he really didn’t know anything about the oil spill. Her palms start to sweat, and the nerves that appeared when she first laid eyes on Eclipse’s CEO have multiplied. How the hell is she supposed to interrogate this guy?

“What do you think happened to the pipeline?” Jungeun asks, warily. Seungcheol had assured her before the trial commenced that no question was off limits, he wants this case wrapped up as much as everyone else does, but she’s still hesitant about pushing a nerve.

“Honestly, I have no idea. The fact that it was working fine for a week rules out a lot of mechanical issues, as they would have likely appeared earlier. But there are so many factors that could have contributed, it seems more plausible that it was a combination of a lot of things and some really bad luck,” Seungcheol admits.

Jungeun nods, hoping that is enough to soothe the juror’s minds. Now she just has to hope Jinsol doesn’t ruin her good work.

“Thank you, sir.”

Jungeun takes her seat and watches as Jinsol slowly makes her way up to the stand. Her eyes once again find themselves roaming up and down Jinsol’s figure, and if they ever get back on better terms, Jungeun makes a note to ask the older woman to tone down the tight pants. Too much of a distraction.

Especially now that she’s seen what’s underneath them.

“It’s quite the honour, sir. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone up against your company, but this is the first time I’ve seen you in person,” Jinsol says, just a hint of bitterness on her tongue.

“Well, your reputation precedes you, Ms. Jung. I can’t say I’ve ever associated you and your company with anything positive, but I admire your passion, truly.”

Jinsol smiles. “Likewise.”

She turns back to her notes, still a bit stuck on how to proceed.

“I don’t really have much to ask you. You say you didn’t know anything about the accident, and I believe you,” she says, eyes moving back up meet Seungcheol’s. She sees truth in them, and for perhaps the only time in her life, she feels that ever present hatred for Eclipse Ltd. dwindle a little.

“As much as I’d love to question some of your subordinates, I cannot, so I will just ask you this. How do you plan on moving forward?”

If he is caught off guard by the seemingly unrelated question, he doesn’t show it. If Jungeun didn’t know better, she’d surmise that he has spent a lifetime on the stand.

“Well, the past few months have really been about damage control. When I heard about Ms. Choi and what came out at the last trial, I was appalled,” Seungcheol admits, shaking his head in disapproval.

“The HR department works without much input from myself, but when I found out what they had given the workers harmed in the accident, giving them the support they deserve shot up my priority list.”

He sighs, and looks around the courtroom, everyone on the edge of their seat.

“Obviously, a lot in terms of the future will depend on the results of this case, so I’m sorry Ms. Jung but I don’t think I can give any definitive answer to your question.”

Jinsol nods, and she is about to withdraw when Seungcheol says something else.

“But before you go, I would like to apologize.”

Jinsol’s eyes widen. “To me?”

He nods. “Yes. For 2009.”

Jinsol’s blood turns to stone. She can hear the murmurs around the courtroom, and can feel Jungeun’s gaze on her, likely confused.

But Jinsol can’t focus on any of that, eyes locked on Seungcheol’s.

She doesn’t know how to respond. She can’t. He wasn’t even responsible for what happened, and yet here he is, in the middle of court, taking the blame for his father’s actions.

Jinsol didn’t ever think she’d get an apology.

“Um… is everything good here? This took a turn, but I was too invested to stop. This is better than my crime shows,” Judge Im asks, breaking the tense silence in the room.

Jinsol nods, shock still ringing through her body. “Yeah, I’m done.”

She takes her seat, and despite Judge Im closing the court, and everyone moving to exit, she feels frozen in her place. She feels a sense of disconnection, from reality maybe, with visions of the past swimming around her.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Jinsol jolts, and looks up to meet Jungeun’s concerned gaze. Funny, it seems their roles have reversed.

Putting the thoughts of her past to the side, Jinsol tries to put on a brave face.

“Yeah, just… a blast from the past, I guess,” Jinsol jokes and starts finally packing up her things.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Jungeun asks, cautiously.

Jinsol shakes her head. “No, not really. Not about that, at least.”

Jungeun raises an eyebrow, indicating for Jinsol to continue.

“Well, I think I’m ready to talk about… you know.” She gestures with her hand between the two of them, causing Jungeun to chuckle, lightly. Jinsol finds herself smiling at the noise.

After Jungeun’s confession after the last trial, Jinsol is too curious to not hear Jungeun out now, especially after mulling over the possibilities for days. Hopefully, getting to hear the other woman’s side of the story will be good for the both of them, and they can finally move on from this mess.

“Really? Are you sure?” Jungeun asks. She’s more than ready to apologize, first and foremost, and hopefully let Jinsol know how much she regrets her actions. And maybe, just maybe, try and rekindle that burnt out flame.

“Yeah, I feel like I at least owe you the chance to explain yourself,” Jinsol admits. “I kind of cut you off any time you tried.”

Jungeun’s eyebrows furrow. “I don’t think I really deserved that chance.”

“Maybe not. But you’ve got it now,” Jinsol smiles. She then realizes they are still in the courtroom, and there are a few stragglers that she’s sure are trying to eavesdrop.

Jungeun notices too, and when an idea crosses her mind, her cheeks blush a bright red.

“We could go to our spot.”

At the reminder, Jinsol blushes as well. She has to remind herself that their intentions this time around are much more PG. Now matter how gorgeous Jungeun looks as the mid-afternoon sun shines through the windows of the courtroom.

“Alright, but no funny business, Kim.”

Jungeun holds her hands up in surrender and leads the two out of the courtroom.

The atmosphere gets more awkward with every step, neither quite sure how to act around each other anymore. So much has changed, exchanging teasing jests and soft blows doesn’t quite seem appropriate anymore.

The thought saddens Jinsol, as that was always her favourite part of competing against Jungeun. She hopes that, with a little bit of closure, they could at least try and get that back.

Making their way down the flights of stairs, they finally reach the maintenance hallway. The loud hums of the air conditioners echo through the hallway, providing a bit of respite to the tense atmosphere.

As they reach their outcropping, Jungeun sighs, and leans back against the wall, the water heater emanating heat beside her.

“So, I guess I should start with an apology. I know it might not mean anything now, but I really am sorry for what happened and how I acted,” Jungeun says, eyes locked on Jinsol’s. She hopes Jinsol understands her sincerity.

“It’s okay, really. I moved on from it a while ago, despite how much it hurt at the time, and I’m sorry for snapping at you after the opening trial. Seeing you just kind of reopened that wound, but I really do forgive you.”

Jungeun scoffs, more to herself than anything. She should find it lucky that the woman she screwed over seems to be the most understanding woman on the planet, but that fact only makes her feel worse.

“I really don’t deserve that, but I do appreciate it nonetheless.” Jungeun pauses, collecting her thoughts. She’s unsure how much she should divulge, but at this point, holding anything back seems stupid.

“To be honest, I really thought that what I was doing was what I wanted at the time. I convinced myself that I didn’t have feelings for you beyond, you know, sex.”

Jinsol blushes, again, and curses herself for being so susceptible. But she nods, still following along.

“So why did you do it?” Jinsol asks, even though she’s fairly sure she knows the answer.

Jungeun sighs, and for the first time since they arrived, she breaks the eye contact.

“I just… I know you don’t like them and I’m sure you have your reasons but, working for Eclipse is genuinely all I have in my life. As much as taking the risk might have paid off…” Jungeun trails off, and meets Jinsol’s eyes once more.

“It wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.”

Silence fills the hallway, with the air conditioners even taking a break, likely startled by the tension surrounding the two women. Jinsol tries very hard not to focus on the use of past tense in Jungeun’s confession.

“Well, at least we know now right? Maybe it was for the best,” Jinsol says, suddenly very unsure of her words. She knows falling back into Jungeun is a bad idea, and she really doesn’t want to get hurt again.

So why does the idea suddenly sound so appealing?

“Do you really mean that?” Jungeun asks, the fire in her eyes blazing ferociously. It seems the uncertainty is solely on Jinsol’s end.

“I gue-”

“I regret it, you know,” Jungeun interrupts, with vigour. “Lying to you. Well, I guess I didn’t actually lie to you, just to myself.”

Jinsol doesn’t know how to respond, the trajectory of the conversation suddenly becoming much more present. She doesn’t want to know Jungeun’s feelings now, as they would just cause an infinite number of problems.

Thankfully, she’s saved by her phone pinning with a reminder. She pulls it out and quickly scans the screen.

“Shit, I’m going to be late,” Jinsol mumbles.

“Oh I’m sorry, have I kept you?” Jungeun asks, but is cursing the interruption. The confession was on the tip of her tongue.

“No, it’s fine, just some blind date my friend set me up on,” Jinsol replies, without thinking. She stills at the realization, and the awkwardness from earlier returns in full force.

Date? That isn’t part of the plan. Jungeun isn’t even sure the prospect of a second chance is within her grasp, but Jinsol seeing other people surely makes that concept even less likely.

Of course, she knows she only has herself to blame. So, she plasters a fake smile on her face and ignores the sinking of her heart.

“Well you better get going then! Don’t want to leave them waiting after all. I hope it goes well!” She’s already taking a few retreating steps, hoping to make her escape while Jinsol is preoccupied with her phone. Lying on her couch and eating a whole pan of brownies suddenly sounds extremely appealing.

“Hang on, I’ll walk out with you. I’m already late, what’s the harm,” Jinsol manages to squeak out before Jungeun turns the corner.

The brunette sighs in defeat, but pauses to wait for Jinsol to catch up. They walk side by side, a little closer than earlier, and are welcomed into the sticky summer air.

“Okay, well, I’ll see you next week!” Jungeun starts again, but Jinsol grabs her hand gently to hold her in place.

“Wait, I just… I wanted to say thank you. For apologizing, and for letting us clear the air,” Jinsol says, shyly. “Maybe we can go back to how things were before this whole mess happened.”

Jungeun grimaces internally at the thought. Having to hide her feelings for Jinsol sounds like an impossible mission, but at the hope on Jinsol’s face, Jungeun realizes she would do literally anything the woman in front of her asks.

“Of course. The wins in court don’t feel as satisfying when I don’t rub them in your face afterwards,” Jungeun smirks, hoping she sounds believable enough.

Jinsol rolls her eyes and gives Jungeun’s shoulder a little shove.

“Good luck with that, Kim. I’ll make sure to remember that when I win this case.”

“Are you kidding? ‘Sincere and caring CEO’ beats ‘sad and damaged former employee’ any day!”

-

_**Tuesday August 25th, 2020** _

As Jinsol pulls her sleek, black Tesla into the courthouse parking lot, she huffs when she notices her usual parking spot is taken. She cruises around the lot locking for an open space, and laughs lightly to herself when the only one available happens to be right beside an unmistakable white BMW.

It’s like the universe can’t stop pointing her in Jungeun’s direction.

Despite how thoroughly Jinsol believed that she didn’t want to pursue anything with Jungeun again, one date with someone else threw all of that out the window.

The woman was nice, sure. Jinsol can’t remember her name, but she was sweet, funny, and seemed stable enough. Definitely not the type to lead you on, sleep with you, then screw you over.

But maybe that’s what Jinsol wants.

In the days leading up to this final trial, her thoughts have been focused primarily on Jungeun. Everything in regards to the case became out of her control once the last trial concluded, the power now lying solely with the jury, so Jinsol has had nothing else to preoccupy her mind besides a certain brunette.

She knows she shouldn’t give Jungeun another chance. There are still so many things going against them, most having to do with Eclipse. From the way Jungeun describes her attachment to them, Jinsol isn’t sure the woman could ever quit her job. And Jinsol really doesn’t know how long a supposed relationship could last when one hates the other’s employers.

On the other hand, its Jungeun.

And honestly, to Jinsol, that might just be enough. If she gets her heart broken again then, well, at least she could say that they gave it a try. Because Jinsol isn’t sure she can live with Jungeun being the one who got away.

This is all assuming Jungeun would be willing to give it a try, for real this time. But based on the look in Jungeun’s eyes the last time they spoke, the determination and intensity of her words, Jinsol thinks that it is likely her decision alone to make.

But, there is still a trial to conclude before any of that can happen.

Jinsol, despite being distracted for much of this case with Jungeun in various capacities, desperately wants to win this case. While each trial has made her question Eclipse’s guilt slightly, she knows that a win here would make up for at least a few of the disasters they have been fully accounted for.

While Jungeun did bring in two formidable witnesses, Jinsol is praying that Yerim’s story combined with Eclipse’s history is enough to finish the job.

She makes her way up the stairs and into the main corridor, and immediately spots Jungeun talking to the man Jinsol had pinned as Jungeun’s boss.

The atmosphere between them doesn’t quite seem as tense as it was when he had chewed Jungeun out a week or so prior, but Jinsol still watches the encounter with intrigue, ready to intervene if necessary. As if she needed another excuse to give an Eclipse employee a good ass-kicking.

Thankfully, the conversation ends amicably, and once he retreats into the courtroom, Jungeun’s eyes scan the room to find Jinsol’s already on hers.

Jungeun’s heart skips a beat, and she can’t help the smile that grows on her lips. She gestures Jinsol over, and as the black-haired woman starts walking, Jungeun has to remind herself repeatedly that Jinsol wants to be… well, they never really were friends, but that’s probably the closest descriptor at this point. Maybe associates? It doesn’t really matter, it wouldn’t be the label Jungeun wants anyways.

“Hey…” Jinsol trails off. The ‘gorgeous’ was right there, and she’d almost let it slip. But the recollection of the last time she’d called Jungeun that, when they were tangled in between each other and the sheets of Jungeun’s bed, causes her brain to stop working momentarily.

Whether or not that night has anything to do with Jinsol’s newfound change of heart is entirely up to interpretation.

“Hey, I was just talking to my boss. He’s pretty sure I’ve won this case, so I expect a cake to be delivered to my apartment in congratulations,” Jungeun teases. She’s not quite sure how to act around Jinsol at this point, so she tries to play it safe and bring it back to their relative norm.

Jinsol’s mind is still painting a very graphic picture, so she takes a moment or so to react to Jungeun’s words.

“Ha! Keep dreaming on that one, but I’ll be waiting patiently for my cake when I win this case, thank you.”

Jungeun rolls her eyes. “How original.”

Another silence looms over them, but it is not uncomfortable or awkward, both enjoying being in each other’s company again.

Jungeun considers asking Jinsol about her date, as a topic of conversation, but she’s much too scared to hear the answer. She’s still debating on whether or not she should confess to Jinsol after this trial.

She won’t have to see her for a while if it goes wrong, but it will largely depend on the results of the case. If Jinsol loses, Jungeun doesn’t think she’d quite be in the mood to talk about a potential relationship with the person she lost to.

Jungeun casually glances at her watch, and immediately becomes alarmed at the time, stretching her hand towards Jinsol. The dark-haired lawyer’s eyes widen and they both scramble into the courtroom. It’s like the two have tunnel vision whenever they are together, focused on nothing else but each other, losing track of time in their own little world.

They make it to their seats just as Judge Im exits her chambers, enthusiasm not having waned in the slightest despite the grueling progression of this case.

“Hello, everyone! Man, what a ride this has been, huh? I genuinely have no idea which side the jury will favour, so I’m on the edge of my seat!”

Both lawyers agree. It seems to be a coin flip, and while Jungeun is praying for a more logical jury, Jinsol is praying for a sentimental one.

Said jury enters and takes their seats diligently, with one member handing Judge Im a sealed envelope.

The courtroom is packed to the brim, every gaze trained on the envelope as Judge Im re-takes her seat. The anticipation is killing everyone in the room, with the results having immense implications either way.

“Anybody got anything else to say before I open it? You know, just for the drama?” Judge Im asks, loving having the entire room as her hostages.

Jinsol might genuinely go up and strangle her if she doesn’t reveal the verdict within the next 10 seconds.

Yeojin notices the lawyer’s death glares and widens her eyes in fear.

“Alright! Fine I’ll read it…” She delicately opens the envelope, taking as long as humanly possible to draw out the suspense even more.

“We, the jury, find Eclipse Ltd....” Yeojin takes a look around the room and pauses for a few more seconds. Jinsol stands up and is already starting to move towards her when she’s stopped dead in her tracks.

“Not guilty!”

Numerous loud gasps contrast the cheers of glee from the Eclipse employees, several embracing each other in joy. Jungeun sighs in relief, and she turns to meet her boss’ eyes. He smiles at her, a genuine one, surprisingly, and walks over to pull her into a hug as well.

“I knew you had it in you, Kim! Keep this up and you might even get a raise!” he says with a wink before reclaimed by his fellow associates.

Jungeun finds that comment hilarious but chooses to ignore it, and instead relishes the feeling of having all of that hard work pay off. Looking at her coworkers in euphoria, and remembering the promisingly caring words from her CEO, maybe Jungeun misinterpreted her hatred for Eclipse.

Maybe it was just this case that was causing her so many problems. Maybe that, in combination with all of the Jinsol stuff, made her think she hated Eclipse when she was probably just overreacting.

Maybe, she can convince herself that that is true, as well.

Jungeun is then reminded of Jinsol, and after looking around the courtroom, the black-haried woman is nowhere to be found.

Heart racing, Jungeun ignores her colleagues, ignores the vultures of reporters the minute she steps out of the room, and ignores the screams from the ever-devoted fans as she makes a beeline for the stairwell.

Poking her head to look down towards the bottom floor, she can see Jinsol’s black-haired head a few flights down, and can barely hear her incoherent mumblings, probably out of anger.

Jungeun takes the steps two at a time and manages to reach Jinsol right before the woman exits the building.

Jinsol turns around at the sound, and upon seeing Jungeun’s face, that uncontrollable anger comes back again.

“Listen, I know you probably want to gloat but this time I really don’t think you want to because I’m not in a teasing mood,” Jinsol warns.

Jungeun narrows her eyes. “No, actually I didn’t want to gloat.” She starts to pull Jinsol towards the water heater again, hoping for a little bit of privacy in case this turns sour. Or sweet, it’s always hard to tell with the two of them. “And I’m glad you think so highly of me that you think I would really rub your face in this win.”

Jinsol scoffs. “Well it wouldn’t be the first time would it! God, you are so arrogant, you didn’t even deserve to win this case!”

“And why the hell not? I worked hard, Eclipse were innocent, and the jury agreed! God, it’s like the minute you lose at anything, you get all pissy and can’t even take a joke,” Jungeun counters, finally approaching the outcropping.

“Ugh, that’s not true! You just become an asshole whenever you win, and whenever you win that means Eclipse is free to burst another pipeline!”

“Now you’re just talking shit. Just admit it! You hate losing more than I do!” Jungeun challenges, annoyed at Jinsol’s ridiculousness. She corners Jinsol into the outcropping, making sure to still leave a bit of distance between them.

Jinsol huffs, breathing hard from all of the bickering. The anger has caused her to lose all self-control, and what is coming out of her mouth is bypassing all restrictions.

“Fine, I hate to lose! But I also hate losing to you! Because you’re arrogant, and self-centered, and confident, and determined, and beautiful…” Jinsol catches herself, and watches as Jungeun’s face turns from annoyed to bashful.

“And… I’m really more angry at the fact that we aren’t together than I am about losing this case,” Jinsol finishes, riding a high and praying she doesn’t plummet. She's kept her feelings on a short leash for long enough, might as well let them roam free.

That makes Jungeun jaw drop, and the sudden change in topic gives her whiplash and any words she could muster get caught in her throat. She had thought Jinsol didn’t want this, and now here she is, offering what Jungeun so desperately desires on a silver platter.

“But… You said-” Jungeun stammers, still in complete shock.

Jinsol rolls her eyes, and Jungeun’s heart swoons at the utter fondness in them that betrays the action.

“We all say things we don’t mean,” Jinsol smirks, taking a step closer. How she manages to turn that anger on and off seemingly on command is a little terrifying.

Jungeun shakes her head in disbelief.

“Are you sure? I know I messed up and I will work so hard to earn your trust back and I know we have a lot to figure out and talk about but I really like you and want to be with yo-”

Jinsol finds the rambling adorable, but unnecessary, so she shuts Jungeun up by reaching a hand onto the brunette’s cheek and pulling her closer to connect their lips in a kiss.

So different from their last kiss, or kisses, this one has Jungeun melting in its sweetness. Devoid of any of the intense lust, the feeling of Jinsol’s lips against hers makes Jungeun feel safe, like she’s where she’s meant to be.

Jungeun can’t keep the smile back, and soon they are both smiling and giggling against each other. Jinsol pokes Jungeun’s side causing the younger lawyer to squeal and push Jinsol away, only for the dark-haired woman to pull her into her arms instead.

Content to stay there, they stand in each other’s embrace, in the cool air of the maintenance hallway, scared of what is to come, but more than ready to tackle it together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
> i will get the last chapter out asap! definitely still some things that need to be resolved...
> 
> pls pls let me know ur thoughts, motivation for this one has dwindled a bit and every comment is appreciated!
> 
> hope y'all are staying safe :)))


	3. case #672

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i'm not totally sure if this requires a warning but i thought i'd give one anyways just in case. someone from jinsol's past is diagnosed with schizophrenia, they are only mentioned and it doesn't go super into detail but i thought i'd give a heads up. it's brought up after the third trial.
> 
> apart from that, hope you enjoy the last chapter!

_**Friday January 15th, 2021** _

“Babe stop, we are going to be late,” Jungeun whines, her words contrasting her actions as she arches her neck to give Jinsol a better angle. She’s glad her girlfriend decided against wearing lipstick, but if she leaves a hickey right before trial Jungeun will be mega pissed.

Jinsol scoffs, her actions quickening instead of slowing. “It’s not like it would make a difference if we went. You don’t have a fat chance of winning this case, you might as well get something out of the trip over,” she mumbles against Jungeun’s skin. Jungeun can feel the smirk on her face as she does so, and the action only fuels the desire to remain in the backseat of Jinsol’s Tesla.

It’s a bit foggy how exactly they’ve ended up here.

Jinsol picked her up from her apartment on the way to the courthouse because, as Jinsol put it, she was “killing our future children every time you start up that hell-beast.”

The ride over was fairly silent, Jungeun more from nerves but Jinsol because she could barely contain her sudden arousal. No matter how many times she’s seen Jungeun in her work clothes, the appeal never fades.

Jungeun should have caught on the moment Jinsol passed her usual parking spot and directed the car straight towards the back of the lot, far enough away from any cars and the entrance that they likely wouldn’t be spotted.

The car was barely put in park before Jinsol had jumped the center console and found herself right in Jungeun’s lap. Jungeun, against her better judgement, welcomed the distraction from the ball of anxiety nestled in her stomach, and her girlfriend’s eagerness was met with open arms.

Until it started to turn from a heated makeout session to something a little more, and now, Jungeun pinned against the seat with Jinsol staring intensely at her, eyes hooded, she has to convince herself that she has more pressing matters to attend to than the woman above her.

After Jinsol pulls back, Jungeun thinks she’s come to her senses, but she couldn’t have been more wrong as Jinsol moves to unbutton Jungeun’s dress pants.

“Jung Jinsol if you move another finger I will have sex with you in the back of this crazy high-tech car.”

Jinsol stills, more so out of amusement at Jungeun’s vain attempt at a threat, and chuckles lightly.

“You say that like that hasn’t been my only thought since you got into this crazy high-tech car,” she replies.

But Jinsol notices the seriousness of Jungeun’s tone, and she knows full well the consequences of going against her girlfriend’s insistence. She just hopes the distraction managed to quell Jungeun’s poorly hidden nerves well enough.

With an over dramatic sigh, Jinsol pulls herself off of Jungeun and plops onto the seat beside her.

“Fine, but we better continue this later,” Jinsol pouts.

Jungeun shakes her head, wondering how she fell in love with the biggest baby on the planet.

“Of course we will, don’t think I didn’t notice you purposefully putting your hair in a ponytail so I get an unfiltered view of your jawline,” Jungeun says with a smirk.

Their breathing and heart rates return to a normal pace, and unfortunately, Jungeun’s nervousness comes back, only being quieted by Jinsol temporarily.

At the crease of Jungeun’s forehead, Jinsol reaches over to pull Jungeun’s hand into her own, leaving a kiss on the back of it.

“Hey, it’ll be fine, okay? Nothing will change, it’ll just be the same old us,” Jinsol assures.

Jungeun nods hesitantly, not quite believing her words, but wanting to so desperately. “Right. Just keep doing what we’ve been doing. Keeping them separate.”

Jinsol places her other hand on Jungeun’s cheek and leads her lips into her own, trying to drown out Jungeun’s thoughts.

“I love you,” Jinsol whispers, having pulled back only an inch or so.

Jungeun smiles. “I love you too… so much,” she responds, that being the only thing she has been sure of in a long, long time. And at the care in Jinsol’s eyes, at the way her mere presence makes Jungeun feel safe, Jungeun hopes she’s worrying about nothing.

Jinsol glances at her watch. “We really should go though, do you want to head out first and I’ll follow you in a few minutes?”

Jungeun nods, and reaches forward into the passenger seat to grab her briefcase.

“Maybe this will be fun! We can even make a bet on who’ll win, but I don’t know why you’d want to throw your money away like that,” Jinsol suggests, eyes gleaming with mischief. Jungeun hates, and loves, the way they do that.

“Keep dreaming babe,” she replies as she opens the back door, blowing Jinsol one last kiss before closing it and making her way towards the entrance of the Seoul High Courthouse, each step feeling heavier than the last.

Today is the first case between Eclipse Ltd. and Blue Betta Environmental Defense since their two best lawyers started dating.

Jungeun is terrified, and has been terrified since her boss informed her that Blue Betta were suing them, again. This date has been circled and crossed out with red ink in her mind for weeks.

The main reason is, of course, Jinsol. Jungeun can genuinely say she has never been this happy in her entire life. Jinsol is everything she could have ever wanted, and the emergence of this case has been the biggest reminder of the way her job puts all of that at risk.

They’ve managed to avoid the issue up until now. They both agreed almost immediately that their work and personal lives should be kept separate, which, in hindsight, Jungeun doesn’t think was their smartest idea. But, it has worked, for the most part.

It sucks that Jungeun can’t talk about her work issues with her girlfriend. She tried once, but that ended up in a huge fight that pretty much solidified their pact on the very clear division.

It also makes Jungeun feel incredibly guilty that the only real source of conflict in her otherwise near-perfect relationship is her job. A job she despises, any question of that disappeared the day after the win of Case #608 when her boss gifted her a huge ice cream cake that melted all over her desk, even with the knowledge that she’s lactose intolerant.

But that doesn’t mean she’s any more willing to give it up.

So, Jungeun doesn’t really think about her job, or her hatred for it, focusing instead on doing everything she can to make Jinsol feel even a sliver of the happiness the dark-haired woman makes her feel.

Of course, they are both still stubborn as hell, and have a few stupid arguments a week, but they both know the other inside and out and all is forgotten practically minutes later. Besides, they like to keep one another on their toes, and Jungeun thinks they both would probably get too bored with someone who would roll over at any request. Jungeun likes the challenge, and she knows Jinsol does even more so.

As Jungeun ascends the stairs of the service stairwell, she feels her chest tighten. As much as she wants to believe that this case won’t prove to be a large hurdle, she can’t, and the sense of an impending inevitability sends her stomach into knots.

She just prays that the two of them together are strong enough to overcome whatever might pose a threat. And that she won’t make the same mistake again.

Jungeun finally reaches the right floor and feels a different sense of comfort at the familiar scents and sounds of the Seoul High Court as she enters the grand central room.

She makes her way over to the case assignment screen and texts Jinsol the room number before making her way inside, trying her best to ignore the feelings of dread weighing her down.

Jinsol, halfway up the stairwell, smiles when she reads Jungeun’s text. It’s the little things that remind her of how far they’ve come, with so much having changed even since the last time they stepped foot into this building together.

The nerves that have been plaguing Jungeun have not gone unnoticed by Jinsol, and she can’t say she hasn’t felt them as well, to a certain extent. This case has presented an immense amount of uncertainty, and Jinsol isn’t sure whether to expect a good or a bad outcome.

If she were to be optimistic, she would say that their relationship and love for each other is so strong that they should be able to make it through this case no problem, regardless of the obvious issues it presents.

On the other hand, Jinsol knows her feelings for Eclipse will never go away, and as much as she wishes she could look past Jungeun working for them, she isn’t sure she can. Especially not for the rest of their working lives.

Because so much is uncertain, and because Jungeun is probably worrying enough for the both of them, Jinsol has done her best to put the thoughts out of her head and instead put on a brave face. At this point, whatever happens will happen, and they’ll deal with it one way or another.

Still, she does dream about Jungeun quitting Eclipse for her, and the two of them riding off into the sunset in bliss. But the longer the days go on, the longer that seems much more of a fantasy than a reality.

When Jinsol enters the courtroom and spots her gorgeous girlfriend focused on her opening statements, the fluttering of Jinsol’s heart briefly convinces her that that is a reality that she can live with.

As she passes Jungeun’s table, Jungeun glances up and meets her girlfriend’s loving gaze. It instantly calms her, as it so often does, and the wink Jinsol leaves her with before retreating to her seat makes Jungeun’s heart flutter in a similar fashion.

Not long after their arrivals, the room hushes and stands to welcome the incoming judge.

She is tall, has long, jet black hair, and looks like she would rather be anywhere else other than presiding over this courtroom.

Judge Son Hyejoo takes her seat with a grumble, but her youthfulness betrays her, and Jinsol thinks she looks more like a pouting baby than a grumpy judge.

“This is Case #672 of the Seoul High Court. Blue Betta Environmental Defense is suing Eclipse Ltd., go figure, on the grounds of… groundwater pollution.” She looks up from her notes and meets Jinsol’s gaze, raising an eyebrow in question. “Really?”

Jinsol frowns. “Yes? It’s a violation of the regulations put in place for oil extraction. It is incredibly damaging to the environment!”

In the old days, Jungeun would have laughed at Jinsol’s case being mocked by the judge, but she now can only sit back and admire Jinsol’s advocacy. One of the many things she loves about the older lawyer is her unrelenting passion, even if it leads to a few conflicts here and there.

Jungeun, too, is reminded how far they’ve come.

“Alright, alright. Leave the defending for the defense,” Hyejoo says, shutting Jinsol up. While the judge looks over her notes once more, Jinsol does a quick scan of the room, and is surprised to find nobody else residing from either Eclipse or Blue Betta present. It could be because the opening trial is often unimportant, but the lack of supervision means she has free reign to have a bit of fun.

“Ms. Kim, why don’t you start us off.”

Jungeun nods and rises from her seat, Jinsol’s attention being brought back to her girlfriend in anticipation for her opening words.

They have not spoken about the case at all, which they likely wouldn’t have done even if they weren’t bound by law not to, so Jinsol is curious as to how Jungeun will approach her defense. In Jinsol’s eyes, Eclipse can’t possibly get away with this, but she always thinks that, and Jungeun still somehow finds a way.

A thing she both loves and hates about her.

“Good morning, everyone. As Judge Son mentioned, my employers are being accused of breaking federal regulations on the safe withdrawal of oil. Something my company has been doing for decades, with only a handful of mishaps,” Jungeun begins.

She paces a few steps, and feeling Jinsol’s eyes on her, she glances the dark-haired woman’s way and immediately regrets it. Jinsol, in a view only Jungeun can see, is contorting her face up in mockery, mouthing Jungeun’s words back to her.

Jungeun has to fight the giggle from escaping at Jinsol’s ridiculousness, and tries to refocus herself. She also notices that no member of her company is present, so she lets the action slide, for now.

“Every oil pump is constructed, maintained, and disassembled in the exact same way, with the exact same amount of care. If there is one thing Eclipse Ltd. can put a trademark on, it’s the way we pump oil.”

Jungeun pauses, knowing her next statement may strike a bit of a nerve.

“Blue Betta are beating a dead horse, here. Still reeling from their monumental collapse in Case #608, this was the first accusation they could muster up. Trust me, by the end of this case, you’ll have no doubt of my company’s innocence,” Jungeun finishes, words directed at the jury.

Jungeun takes her seat, and does spare a glance in Jinsol’s direction, hoping she isn’t still bitter about the loss.

Jinsol narrows her eyes at her, and, so quickly Jungeun almost misses it, points two fingers at her own eyes and then in Jungeun’s direction.

This time, Jungeun can’t keep in the giggle, and when she feels all eyes in the room on her, she stills in panic. Looking over at Jinsol, she is the picture of elegance, flipping through her notes with care while trying to hold back the smirk. Jungeun hates her.

“Something funny there, Ms. Kim? Hyejoo asks, already growing tired of this case even though it’s barely started.

“Nope, nothing at all,” Jungeun replies through gritted teeth.

Hyejoo nods, and signals towards Jinsol to give her opening statement.

Jinsol stands, still smirking, and makes her way over to the jury without a glance in Jungeun’s direction, avoiding the death glare she would surely receive if she did so.

“As much as Ms. Kim here would disagree, every lawsuit Blue Betta places against Eclipse Ltd. is warranted. She likes to paint a picture that ignores the facts and attempts to steer away from the logic and the evidence, so I ask that nobody here succumbs to that.”

Jungeun pushed a button, so Jinsol will push one right back.

“The fact of the matter is that the groundwater pollution affected numerous species, with toxic chemicals tainting their drinking water. And it is no coincidence that the park in question, Jirisan National Park, happens to reside right next to the oil sands in which Eclipse drills most of their oil from.”

Jungeun rolls her eyes, the validity of that claim absurd. Jinsol of course fails to mention that the oil sands in question is shared by at least four other companies.

“If Eclipse were so good at pumping oil, then they would want to maintain that image to the best of their abilities, no? I can’t imagine a slip-up like this would please many of their investors,” Jinsol adds. “How about you all trust me instead. I will show that Eclipse Ltd. violated the regulations, and lied about it.”

With a final smile, as charming as always, Jinsol takes her seat. When she sees Jungeun’s annoyed face, she pouts, hoping to draw out another reaction from her stubbornly adorable girlfriend.

Unfortunately, Jungeun keeps her gaze trained on Judge Son, and Jinsol counts it as a win anyways, taking her seat smugly.

“Okay, I’ve had enough for today. We’ll reconvene on… whatever day we reconvene on,” Hyejoo says, voice monotone.

Jinsol sighs happily, and gathers her things before making her way over to Jungeun.

“Hi gorgeous,” she grins, giddy at the familiarity of the situation.

Jungeun looks up, unamused. “You’re annoying.”

Jinsol gasps, and places her hand to her chest. “What on earth do you mean, beloved? How dare you insult me in such a way.”

Jungeun rolls her eyes, fighting hard to maintain her stoicness. Jinsol’s goofiness is infectious. She stands and makes her way out of the room, Jinsol hot on her tail.

“Hey, c’mon, we can’t let the rivalry die just because I’ve seen you drool all over your laptop at 3 am.”

Jungeun blushes beet red and slaps Jinsol’s arm hard. Jinsol stumbles a few steps dramatically, faking a gunshot wound.

“You are absolutely ridiculous,” Jungeun says as they pass the threshold into the stairwell. Once the door closes behind them, Jinsol miraculously recovers from her injury and pulls Jungeun in for a kiss, resting her hand on her hip.

It only lasts a moment before Jinsol pulls away, but Jungeun feels rejuvenated, and she can’t bring herself to keep up the act anymore, a dopey grin replacing her scowl.

“Yeah, but you love it though.”

“Unfortunately.”

They both smile at each other like idiots before making their way down the stairs, as slow as possible.

“Isn’t it nice to think about how far we’ve come though?” Jinsol asks, hand interlocked with Jungeun’s.

“Yes, but then I also think about how many times I messed up and almost ruined everything,” Jungeun murmurs.

Jinsol frowns and leans over to press her lips against Jungeun’s temple.

“Water under the bridge, remember?” Jinsol reminds her. Jungeun really has earned her trust back through and through, and they’ve talked long and hard about the whole mess that was their relationship. All of it under pretense that it was a thing of the past, of course, and ignoring the problems that might present themselves down the road.

Jungeun nods, still beating herself up about it but leaving the pity party for another day. She smirks and leans a little closer to Jinsol.

“I do think it’s funny that we now have a way to resolve the tension that builds up in court.”

Jinsol furrows her brow. “We do?”

Jungeun raises an eyebrow and looks pointedly at her until Jinsol’s face dawns with realization.

“Oh right. Yeah, that’s definitely a plus.”

They reach the bottom floor, and Jinsol glances down the maintenance hallway, another devilish idea sparking her brain.

“Speaking of which…” she trails off, nodding her head towards their famed outcropping.

“You’re not seriously suggesting we have sex here when I literally live 5 minutes away.”

“Why not? It’ll be fun, spice things up a little bit.”

Jungeun narrows her eyes. “Are you saying you’re bored?”

Jinsol freezes, eyes widening in shock, and before she can muster up a response, Jungeun is leaving the building.

“Wait, baby, of course I’m not bored! You’re the best sex I’ve ever had, please stop walking so fast!”

-

_**Wednesday January 20th, 2021** _

“Good afternoon to you all. Let’s hope today’s proceedings don’t take too long,” Judge Son addresses the large crowd as she steps up towards her seat, not wanting to waste any time. “Ms. Jung, please swear in your witness.”

Jinsol’s witness, a young woman with large spectacles perched on her nose, makes her way up to the stand.

“My name is Jeon Heejin. I work at a lab not far from here that analyzes water samples from different bodies of water,” she states, voice shaking slightly.

“And were you the one who was in charge of analyzing the polluted groundwater?” Jinsol asks.

Heejin nods. “Yeah, it was sent to the lab a few weeks ago.”

“Were there any foreign compounds or substances present?”

“Well, I found multiple toxic substances that are commonly emitted during oil fracking, which isn’t a big surprise. Since the water supply runs through such a highly-frequented oil field, it isn’t unusual to find the water contaminated at least to some degree.”

Jungeun smiles. That’s good to hear. This scientist surely can’t prove that Eclipse broke regulations when the water is so often polluted anyways. Maybe saving her company’s ass won’t be so hard this time around, because, as a return to the norm, Eclipse are well guilty on this occasion.

“I see. And there was nothing else in the water that you found… rather odd?” Jinsol questions further.

Heejin ponders for a moment before her face dawns with realization. “Actually, there were trace amounts of titanium in the water, which was a little bizarre. I’m still not quite sure how it ended up there.”

Jinsol smiles smugly while Jungeun’s stomach drops.

“I can tell you exactly how it ended up there,” Jinsol says, addressing the jury as well as her witness. “Eclipse Ltd., as arrogant as ever, fashions their drill heads solely from titanium instead of making the switch to tungsten, as almost every other company has.”

Jinsol turns to meet Jungeun’s eyes, and she can’t help but relish the familiar anger on Jungeun’s face at having been bested. Even if she has to suffer for it later.

“There is only one way that titanium could have ended up in the water supply, and that is if Eclipse contaminated the runoff through their oil extraction,” Jinsol concludes, thanking Heejin before taking her seat.

Well, now Jungeun is screwed. What seemed a small bump has turned into a mountainous hill she must climb. There is no way she can argue against the facts, again knowing full well that what Jinsol is insinuating is true, so there really is only one way she can approach her interrogation.

And she knows Jinsol is going to hate it.

Ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach, Jungeun stands and tries to keep her back to Jinsol, putting on the most intimidating persona she can muster up.

“So, Heejin, do you regularly analyze water samples from this particular source?”

Heejin nods. “Yes, definitely. Like I said, it’s in such a high risk area that any sort of stuff can get in there and hurt the animals nearby.”

Jinsol groans to herself. Heejin hasn’t exactly been her best witness, seeming to plant as many seeds of doubt as she can. Jinsol just hopes the killing piece of evidence is enough to sway the jury. Hopefully none of them know jack about water particles and runoff pollution.

“Got it. And this is the first time you’ve found titanium in the sample?”

“I think so, I can’t say I remember seeing even a small amount any time before,” Heejin answers.

Jungeun nods. “Does that seem a bit odd to you?”

Heejin’s brow furrows, Jinsol’s following suit, Jungeun’s motives alarmingly unclear.

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure what you mean,” Heejin responds, hesitantly.

Jungeun shrugs. “I’m just suggesting that it seems rather… convenient, do you not agree?”

“Objection! Calls for a conclusion!” Jinsol interjects, starting to put the pieces together. It’s telling that Jungeun has not looked her way since the brunette started her interrogation, and while Jinsol thought she didn’t want to be distracted, she now suspects something more sinister.

“Where are you going with this, Ms. Kim?” Judge Son questions.

“I’m just entertaining a possibility,” Jungeun replies, vaguely.

Hyejoo pauses to deliberate. Frankly, she’s bored, and she’d like to see what exactly the younger lawyer has in store for the court on this fine Wednesday afternoon. “Overruled.”

Jinsol slowly re-takes her seat, sitting right on the edge in preparation for another objection.

Heejin’s attention turns back to Jungeun, to which the brunette raises an eyebrow.

“I- um… it does seem rather strange, but Ms. Jung’s conclusion seems plausible,” she responds, trying her hardest to keep her voice steady. Jungeun’s cold, hard glare is petrifying.

“Plausible. Not probable?”

Before Heejin can get her response out, Jungeun speaks again.

“Is there any way to prove that the titanium was from an oil drill?”

“Objection! Badgering the witness!” Jinsol interjects again, now fuming.

“The first question was rhetorical, judge. It required no answer,” Jungeun supplies. She can practically feel the daggers being sent into her back from Jinsol’s seat.

“Overruled.”

Heejin once again feels all eyes on her. “Um… well, no, I suppose there isn’t.”

Jungeun nods knowingly, preparing the final blow. She knows what she is suggesting is ludicrous, but even the smallest shred of doubt can be enough in some cases.

“Do you think it is possible that the titanium could have been… planted?”

“Objection!”

Jungeun flinches at the fury in Jinsol’s tone, and finally turns around to lay eyes on her girlfriend, and curses herself that she still finds angry Jinsol sexy as hell. But she knows that anger sex is nowhere near the forefront of the black-haired woman’s mind, with her face literally turning red.

“For what, Ms. Jung?” Hyejoo asks.

Jinsol momentarily halts her heavy, intense breathing, completely forgetting her cause for objection. The moment Jungeun meets her eyes, the words are gone from her memory, with the first thoughts that cross her mind scaring them away.

Looking at Jungeun in the harsh lighting of the courtroom, her first thoughts aren’t loving or sweet, and she isn’t reminded of how much she loves her girlfriend, which is the norm whenever their gazes meet.

This time, the only thing she sees in Jungeun is an enemy. Someone who plays dirty, someone who is so headstrong that they will stop at nothing to get what they want. Someone who works for Eclipse Ltd.

And in that moment, Jinsol realizes that she can’t look past that fact anymore.

Luckily, her words return to her, and after only a couple moments of thought, her attention returns to Judge Son.

“Calls for a conclusion,” Jinsol supplies, simultaneously breaking Jungeun’s gaze.

Hyejoo nods. “Sustained. I think that’s about enough, don’t you, Ms. Kim?”

Jungeun also nods, and takes her seat with a sigh. At the look on Jinsol’s face, she knows she’s going to have to think of a really good way to make it up to her.

Judge Son closes the court for the day, and Jungeun barely registers Jinsol’s disheveled figure exit the courtroom with haste.

Sighing again, Jungeun gathers her things quickly and rushes to follow her through the courthouse epicentre and into their stairwell. She is not surprised to find Jinsol there waiting for her, her anger somehow dissipated.

“I know, I know. That was completely out of line and I know Blue Betta would never go even remotely close to that sort of drastic measure. I’m sorry, I didn’t feel like I had any other option,” Jungeun spills, words jumbled but sincerity still present.

Jinsol remains still, taking her girlfriend in.

She is now aware of the fact that the two are holding a ticking time bomb. They’ve managed to avoid the issue for long enough, but there is simply no way they can make it through this trial without an explosion.

Of course, Jinsol knows her girlfriend well enough to understand that it’ll take something big for the pin to drop and for Jungeun to realize that she has to make a choice. Jungeun is so blind to her own feelings and surroundings that she won’t accept that she can’t have both Jinsol and Eclipse until something very real threatens that belief. If Jinsol tried to bring it up now, she’d likely just get defensive and do her best to get the best of both worlds, as afraid of change as she is.

So, Jinsol decides to bide her time until then and prepare herself for the inevitable, praying Jungeun will come to the same conclusion sooner rather than later. And hoping she’ll be on the right side of the decision this time around.

“It’s okay, it’s just the job, right?” she replies casually, interlocking their hands and pulling Jungeun down the stairs. “I’m hungry, do you want to go try that new greek place by my apartment?”

Jungeun, absolutely bewildered at the sudden change in demeanor, struggles to keep up.

“Um… sure? But seriously, babe, I am really sorry.”

Jinsol stops, causing Jungeun to stop as well, and turns to look down into her girlfriend’s eyes. Jinsol knows that is true, but she doesn’t want to be hearing that for the rest of their lives.

“I know.”

-

_**Tuesday January 26th, 2021** _

Jinsol quickly enters the bustling courtroom and makes her way over to her seat. Laying her notes across the tabletop, she glances at the clock and then to Jungeun’s empty table.

They drove separately today, Jungeun having to go and pick up a witness from the train station before trial.

Somehow, they’ve still managed to elude talking about the elephant in the room during their personal time, but Jinsol is finding it harder and harder to ignore the issue. She can tell it is still stressing Jungeun out to no end, but it stresses Jinsol out equally that the brunette is still not doing anything to resolve it, choosing to torture herself in an endless feeling of conflict.

To Jinsol, the solution seems so simple. Quit Eclipse. Move in with Jinsol. Get married. Adopt a few dogs. Maybe a kid, they haven’t talked about that yet. Live happily ever after.

Not that Jinsol’s thought about that possibility since she first realized her feelings for Jungeun.

But, Jungeun is not Jinsol, and despite getting to know her much better, Jinsol still cannot fathom how Jungeun can become so attached to Eclipse. And to even enjoy working for them so much that she can’t give it up is even more baffling.

Sighing, Jinsol tries to put the struggles of their relationship to the back of her mind and focus on today’s trial. Jungeun hadn’t disclosed any details about the witness, so Jinsol is curious as to who they might be. They’d better be good, as Heejin definitely hammered a few nails into the coffin with her testimony.

Just before Judge Son is set to start trial, Jungeun enters the courtroom with an unfamiliar man tagging along just behind her. He doesn’t give off any Eclipse vibes, making Jinsol even more curious towards his identity.

They take their seats just as Hyejoo enters the room.

“Hello,” she says, not looking up from her notes. Jinsol scoffs. What a greeting.

Hyejoo looks up, and her eyes dart between the two lawyers. “Who’s up today? I forgot what happened last time.”

Jungeun clears her throat and stands. “Me, your honour. I have a witness to swear in.”

Hyejoo nods, already seeming unimpressed, and gestures to the stand.

The man rises calmly and approaches the stand, seeming confident. He seems familiar to Jinsol, reminding her of something she can’t quite place.

“Please state your name for the record,” Jungeun begins.

“Jung Jaehyun.”

“And what is your occupation?”

“I’m a park ranger at Jirisan National Park.”

The last name is an unfortunate coincidence, but upon hearing his occupation, Jinsol’s blood turns to stone. Now, the recognition floods in, and she finds it incredibly hard to breath.

“How did you react upon hearing the news of this lawsuit?” Jungeun asks, not aware that her witness has sent her girlfriend into an immense state of anxiousness.

“I was surprised. This sort of pollution is fairly common in our park, and it usually isn’t something that can be avoided to the fullest degree, even if the proper regulations are upheld,” Jaehyun responds. “Part of my job is minimizing the effects.”

“Have you heard of any other companies in the area being guilty of breaking those regulations?”

Jaehyun nods. “Recently we had an incident with a different company stationed in that oil sands, and so we have been dealing with the ramifications of that. When news broke of Eclipse apparently being guilty of this, my first thought was that Blue Betta had the wrong company.”

The crowd starts murmuring, and Jungeun hopes that little tidbit has caused one or two juror’s minds to sway.

“Thank you, sir.” Jungeun retreats to her seat and looks her girlfriend’s way for the first time since she’d arrived, having been in such a rush to avoid being late. When she takes her in, though, Jinsol seems almost unrecognizable.

She is uncharacteristically pale, and her hands are shaking violently under the table. She looks up from her lap and meets Judge Son’s gaze.

“I d-don’t have any questions, your honour.”

Hyejoo’s eyebrows raise. “Really? Not one?”

Jinsol shakes her head feverently, and Jungeun’s concern triples.

“Alright… well I guess that’s it. I’d apologize for the briefness of this trial but I’m happy I get to go home early,” Hyejoo says, a genuine smile on her face for the first time since the start of this case.

Jungeun immediately stands and rushes over to Jinsol’s side, not really caring about keeping up appearances. She hasn’t seen anybody at Eclipse attend the trials so far, and when Jinsol is this out of it, it’s the least of her concerns.

“Hey, Jinsol, look at me,” Jungeun says, crouching down to be at Jinsol’s eye level.

She can see her girlfriend’s eyes are glossy, and when their eyes do meet, Jungeun’s heart breaks at the pain in them. Where did this come from?

“Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Packing up Jinsol’s things, Jungeun stands and leads Jinsol out of the courtroom with an arm wrapped around her waist, ignoring the semi-confused glances that get sent their way. If she were being honest, the two haven’t been extremely subtle, and she wouldn’t be surprised if half of the frequent reporters and fans have caught on by now.

Once they make it into the privacy of the stairwell, Jinsol immediately sits down on the top step and buries her head in her hands.

Jungeun sits beside her and soothingly rubs her hand along her back in the way she knows Jinsol likes.

“Baby…” Jungeun starts, hesitantly. “What happened?”

Jinsol shakily breaths in. She wants to keep it in. She hasn’t needed to talk about it with anyone for so long, so why start now?

But, when she sees the care in Jungeun’s eyes, Jinsol’s sky-high walls come tumbling down.

“Your witness just… reminded me of someone I used to know.”

Jungeun’s brow furrows, Jinsol’s words posing more questions than answering them.

“Who?”

Jinsol shuts her eyes, and starts shaking her head. Maybe she can’t do this yet, the wounds being reopened bringing the pain she’d tried her best to ignore for years right back up.

“Hey, hey. Listen, you’re scaring me a little, but if you really don’t want to talk about it that’s ok,” Jungeun says, the hand not rubbing Jinsol’s back moves to cup her cheek. “But something tells me you haven’t talked about this with anyone, and it isn’t good to keep stuff in, right?”

Jinsol almost scoffs at how hypocritical that statement is coming from Jungeun, but now isn’t really the time. Besides, she’s right.

And honestly, despite it likely only creating more problems, Jungeun is the only person Jinsol trusts enough to talk about this with.

So, Jinsol opens her eyes and moves the hand on her face to hold her own, using it as a lifeline.

“He reminded me of… my dad,” Jinsol chokes out.

Jungeun’s eyebrows raise. In the months they’ve been together, Jinsol has rarely mentioned her family. She doesn’t have any siblings, and she doesn’t see her mother very often, but Jungeun doesn’t think she’s ever heard of anything about her father.

“And is that a bad thing?” Jungeun asks, completely unsure of herself but wanting Jinsol to speak more.

“I haven’t seen him in 8 years,” Jinsol responds, eyes trained on a peeling patch of wall straight ahead.

Jungeun’s jaw drops a little, and now she really has no idea what to say. She rubs Jinsol’s back a little harder and hopes that’s enough encouragement for her to continue.

Jinsol sighs, and closes her eyes once more.

“He was my idol growing up. He was my best friend, and we did everything together,” Jinsol discloses solemnly. “He was a park ranger.”

There was the connection, and Jungeun immediately feels awful about bringing Jaehyun in as her witness. Of course, she had no idea this would trigger her girlfriend into a full on breakdown, but she can’t help but feel guilty anyways.

“We spent so much time outside in nature. It was how I fell in love with the world, and how I developed the passion to save it. Because of him,” Jinsol says, voice cracking up at the last few words.

Jungeun leans her head on Jinsol’s shoulder, and Jinsol sighs, relishing the contact.

“And everything was great… until 2009.”

Jungeun is immediately reminded of their last case, when Eclipse’s CEO apologized to Jinsol seemingly out of the blue. Jungeun hadn’t thought much of it, her mind completely frazzled and distracted with other pressing matters at the time, but she wishes she could have held onto that piece of information.

“What happened in 2009?” she asks delicately, worried that the wrong word will send Jinsol over the edge.

Jinsol’s breathing starts to get more uneven, and Jungeun wraps her arm around Jinsol’s waist, squeezing tightly.

“There was, um… a huge oil spill in the park my dad worked at in 2009. It was awful, almost half of the park got destroyed. He was furious. He went straight to the company’s headquarters and ripped the CEO a new one,” Jinsol says, with a hint of pride at the end.

“Of course, the CEO didn’t take that very well, and he contacted my dad’s boss and accused him of harassment, and they had no choice but to fire him.”

“What? That’s ridiculous,” Jungeun says, finding herself getting angry at the injustice when this happened over a decade ago.

“Well, it’s true. And after that, my dad couldn’t find another job, and he just became so… obsessed with trying to ruin this company, because they somehow got away from the oil spill unscathed.”

Jinsol pauses, and Jungeun gets the feeling the worst part of this story is yet to come.

“He started to act differently. He barely left the garage, which was where all of his ‘evidence’ was. It got to the point where he’d disappear for days and neither me or my mom would know where he went.”

A tear slides down Jinsol’s cheek and lands on Jungeun’s hand, and Jungeun raises her head to find Jinsol’s eyes scrunched closed.

“He was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2010.”

Jungeun’s heart sinks, and she feels her eyes tearing up at the anguish on Jinsol’s face.

“Oh, baby I’m so sorry…”

Jinsol shakes her head. “It’s fine. It ran in his side of the family, but he was at the age where most of us thought he’d missed it.”

Unable to control the tears any longer, they flow freely down Jinsol’s cheeks as she stares again at the same patch of wall.

“He became… unrecognizable from the man who raised me. He was paranoid, delusional, hellbent on ruining this company. The CEO taunted him, as well. Played games with him, egged him on.”

Jungeun shakes her head in disbelief.

“Eventually, he stopped taking his meds and took off. I don’t even know where he is anymore, or if I’ll ever see him again.”

Jinsol then turns to meet Jungeun’s eyes, her face now devoid of the hurt. “The company was Eclipse Ltd.”

Jungeun’s stomach drops and her eyes widen. Oh.

So that was why Jinsol hated them so much. It seemed so irrational at times, Jungeun used to wonder if there was anything more behind it. Clearly there was.

Jungeun feels her own hatred for her wretched company grow at the new information. She’s at a loss for words. She can’t defend them, not from something like this.

Jinsol turns to face forward once more. “I was already in my undergrad when the oil spill happened, and watching everything unfold over the following years, I didn’t care how I did it, I wanted to take down Eclipse for good.”

Jungeun nods understandingly.

“Thank you for telling me,” she says, cautiously. It seemed hard for Jinsol to share, and Jungeun is immensely grateful her girlfriend trusted her enough to do so. No matter how many ripple effects it might cause.

Jinsol squeezes Jungeun’s hand tight, a small part of her hoping that maybe this could be enough for Jungeun to realize the error of her ways. That wasn’t her intention when she decided to share this with her, but if something good can come out of her sob story, she won’t complain.

“Thank you for listening. And for… being there for me.”

Jungeun smiles warmly and kisses Jinsol’s cheek.

“Always,” she responds, placing her head back on Jinsol’s shoulder, the two ignoring the tiniest bit of uncertainty behind that promise.

-

_**Monday February 1rst, 2021** _

Jungeun hurries over to the entrance to the courthouse, trying her best not to slip on the treacherous ice as snow lightly falls from the sky. She really hates winter, and misses the feeling of the warm sun on her skin immensely in times like these.

Finally opening the door, she sighs as she enters the warm air of the courthouse, and finds the familiar hum of the generator reassuring as she starts her ascent up the stairs.

Ever since Jinsol’s emotional confession, she has been acting rather distant, and Jungeun is starting to worry a little. Jungeun has asked her multiple times if something else was wrong, but each time, Jinsol would adamantly shake her head and give her a loving kiss, maybe in an attempt to distract her from the issue. And it always worked, because every time Jinsol kisses her Jungeun’s brain short-circuits.

But, the worry has persisted, and Jungeun reasons Jinsol’s unusual behaviour likely has to do with their case. Jinsol was far too forgiving after Jungeun’s stunt with the scientist, and Jungeun thinks her girlfriend is probably holding all of her feelings in for the sake of their relationship, adhering to the “work stuff and personal stuff separated” rule that they have so diligently followed.

Jungeun doesn’t think that rule will be followed for very much longer, thinking it’s only a matter of time before Jinsol can’t take it any longer.

And she’s absolutely terrified for when that time comes.

Realistically, Jungeun knows she’s going to have to make a choice. And, in her heart, she knows what she wants to do. She’s more worried that her brain, and her stubborn reluctance to change, will prevent her from following through.

Sighing, she reaches the top of the stairs, out of breath. One would think she’d be more in shape when she takes the stairs every time she frequents the building, but she is still sucking wind after conquering the last step.

Jungeun hopes Jinsol isn’t too far behind her. Jinsol wanted to drive separately today, and could only offer a poorly constructed excuse about traffic patterns when Jungeun had called to ask why. Jungeun can’t say she’s surprised, but her heart aches at their current situation.

Despite so much being unsaid, Jungeun knows she’s to blame for their current predicament. If only she wasn’t so damn attached to a job and a company she absolutely despises.

She enters the courtroom, preparing to defend said company, and finds that Jinsol has somehow beaten her here, despite living further and leaving later.

Jinsol senses Jungeun’s entrance and looks up, meeting her eyes. They haven’t seen each other in a few days, Jinsol claiming to be too wrapped up in the case to meet up. Jungeun, again, knows that’s bullshit, but refrains from saying anything.

Jungeun makes her way over to Jinsol’s desk and offers her a small smile. Jinsol’s eyes give nothing away, and Jungeun curses the way her girlfriend is so hard to read at times.

“Hi,” Jungeun offers in greeting, hating how stilted and awkward it sounds.

“Hey,” Jinsol responds, somehow even more awkward.

Jinsol didn’t really mean to avoid Jungeun, she was genuinely quite busy over the weekend, even though she probably could have seen her if she wanted to. But, the small break from each other was nice, and it has given her a little bit of clarity having been free of the intoxication that is Jungeun’s presence for a few days.

Jinsol has decided that, once this case concludes, she’s going to force the two of them to seriously talk about the future of their relationship. Jinsol honestly can’t keep it together any longer, and if she waits around for Jungeun to figure her issues out on her own, she might just be waiting around forever.

And, as much as she might love the idiot in front of her, there is only so much she can take.

“How’s it going?” Jungeun asks, then immediately closes her eyes in regret. She couldn’t sound more unsure of herself if she tried.

But, it manages to get a chuckle out of Jinsol, so Jungeun hesitantly opens her eyes.

“I’m sorry I was so busy over the weekend, my boss has been on my ass about this case,” Jinsol says, Jungeun finally recognizing regret flash in Jinsol’s brown eyes. That’s reassuring.

“It’s alright, I wasn’t doing much else either,” Jungeun smiles. She takes a quick look around, and at the big rush not quite having entered yet, she moves a little closer to clasp Jinsol’s hand in her own.

“I missed you, though,” Jungeun admits shyly, and Jinsol’s heart swoons. She loves seeing Jungeun in her element, ripping heads off in court and showing no mercy, but she loves her soft side even more, especially considering it’s largely reserved for her. It makes her wish for simplicity in their otherwise complicated relationship.

“I missed you too. Don’t worry, we can make up for lost time later,” Jinsol replies with a wink. Jungeun blushes red, which Jinsol grins at in satisfaction, right as someone comes up from behind Jungeun and announces himself with a loud grunt.

Jungeun immediately drops Jinsol’s hand, and Jinsol spots the flash of fear that appears on Jungeun’s face. Her heart stops its swooning and drops a little instead.

Jungeun turns around and is met with a toothy grin, despite a few teeth being missing.

“Hi Ms. Kim! I’m ready for my testimony,” the man says, spitting a little with every word. Jungeun should have worn a raincoat.

“Great, just follow me over to our seats and I’ll prep you one last time,” Jungeun replies, hoping his testimony will be worth the amount of time she’s had to hold her breath around him.

As they’re walking away, Jungeun turns around and meets Jinsol’s eyes one last time, and her girlfriend’s gorgeous smile never fails makes Jinsol’s worries fly away, seeming all too unimportant.

A few moments later, the room hushes as Judge Son enters the room. Jinsol’s eyes widen at the paper bag sporting the McDonald’s logo in the judge’s possession. Hyejoo sits and pulls out a Big Mac, and darts her eyes between the two lawyers.

“Well? Let’s get a move on.”

Jungeun takes that as her cue, and motions for her witness to make his way up to the stand.

He introduces himself, and when he announces his occupation, Jinsol can’t help but roll her eyes.

“I work construction at Eclipse, makin’ oil wells and pipelines and that type of shit.”

“Language, sir, this is a court of law,” Hyejoo says, not even trying to hide her disgust at the attitude of Jungeun’s witness.

Jungeun smiles, knowing that definitely isn’t a rule often enforced, and continues with her questioning.

“Were you on the team who installed the oil pump in sector 7?” Jungeun asks, referring to the pump targeted in this case.

“Yep, I was the primary builder, in charge of makin’ sure everythin’ was in tip top shape,” he replies, pride evident in his voice.

Jungeun nods. “And did anything go wrong during the construction?”

“No ma’am, followed the book to a tee. No way there was anythin’ wrong with that beauty.”

“How often was it checked for damages?”

He ponders the question for a few moments, and Jungeun thinks he looks like he’s trying to calculate the square root of Pi in his head.

“Pretty often, I think? Not really my job, but I’m sure them fellas made sure she was running smoothly day in and day out.”

At that, Jungeun thanks him, and retreats to her seat. She thinks she’s probably done enough to sway the jury, but at this point, Jungeun doesn’t know if she cares about winning this case. Or even wants to.

Jinsol stands, and the man’s head perks up in attention, a gnarly smile making its way across his lips.

“Hey! It’s the she-devil!”

The room becomes dead silent, every face in attendance morphing into one of confusion.

Jinsol’s brow furrows in confusion, but that doesn’t last long, as anger quickly takes over her features.

“Excuse me?” she demands, threateningly.

The man just laughs. “Oh, Ms. Jung, you have no idea the things people call you down in the trenches. She-devil was me being nice.”

Jungeun’s jaw drops. This is news to her. Obviously, Jinsol isn’t the most well-liked in the Eclipse headquarters, but she’s shocked to hear that that disdain goes further than the white-collars.

Jinsol is appalled, and is trying very, very hard to keep her cool. As much as this asshat doesn’t deserve another second of her time, she still has a job to do.

“Alright, I’m just going to ignore that. How many workers were on your crew?” she asks, hoping he takes the bait.

He doesn’t. He stares at her for a few moments, the devilish grin only growing.

“How’s your dad?”

Jungeun cannot hold the gasp back, and she frantically looks at Jinsol, hoping her girlfriend doesn’t tackle this poor man.

But Jinsol doesn’t give him any reaction, except for the twitching of her left eyebrow. Jungeun knows exactly what that means.

“May I please be excused from the court, Judge Son.”

The tone of Jinsol’s statement suggests she isn’t asking at all, and Hyejoo only nods quickly, finding herself a little scared of the black-haired lawyer.

Jinsol is out of the room in an instant, not even stopping to grab her things, and the court erupts in confused murmurs.

“Everyone! Please be quiet,” Hyejoo demands, standing up in order to get everyone’s attention. She turns to face Jungeun.

“Ms. Kim, your witness will have to be expunged from the record, and I’m appalled you even considered him appropriate for trial.”

“Hey!” the man shouts in protest, but zips his lips tight at the glare Judge Son sends him in response

“I will give both you and Ms. Jung the opportunity to present a final statement on Wednesday before the jury is dismissed to deliberate.”

Jungeun nods quickly, antsy to go and check on her girlfriend, and Hyejoo sighs.

“I wanted action but not this much,” she grumbles, cursing herself more than anything as she takes a final bite of her Big Mac. “Alright, everyone get out of here. The court is dismissed.”

Jungeun scrambles to gather her things, and moves to grab Jinsol’s as well when she smells a familiar stench behind her.

“Did I do good, ma’am?”

Jungeun turns around and has to hold back her clenched fist from connecting with this idiot’s nose.

Not even giving him a response, she high-tails it out of the courtroom and towards the stairwell. As she hurries down the stairs two at a time, she prays Jinsol had the sense to wait for her.

Turning the last corner, Jungeun finds her girlfriend seething, pacing back and forth beside the water heater. At the sound of her arrival, Jinsol looks up, and the blazing fire in her eyes makes Jungeun retreat a step or two.

“Who the hell was that guy? Give me his address, I’ll go teach him a lesson or two,” Jinsol demands, and then deliberates for a moment. “Actually, maybe I can catch him in the parking lot.”

She tries to bulldoze her way past Jungeun, with the brunette barely managing to keep her in place, both hands gripping the older woman’s arms.

“Don’t, he’s not worth it, Jinsol. He’s just some idiot with an abnormally low IQ,” Jungeun says, while rubbing her girlfriend’s arms reassuringly.

However, her actions have the opposite effect, and Jinsol pushes her away, somehow even more angry.

“And why the fuck didn’t you say anything?”

Jungeun’s eyes widen in shock. Jinsol knows she couldn’t have, despite wanting to, but all sense Jinsol’s rationale was left in the courtroom.

“Well, I-”

“Why did I even ask that, I know the answer. You care about Eclipse more than me,” Jinsol muses, laughing ironically. “I cannot believe I fell in love with a woman who actually loves working for Eclipse Ltd. What are the fucking odds.”

All of Jinsol’s pent up feelings are flooding out, and Jungeun is feeling panic overwhelm her. But, now that they’re clearing the air, she might as well give Jinsol the full truth.

“I don’t love working for them. I hate it, it’s so draining I feel like I’m getting the life sucked out of me the moment I enter the building,” Jungeun admits, hoping that will quell Jinsol’s fury.

But, again, her confession only seems to make Jinsol more angry.

“What?” she asks, voice calm but threatening to explode.

Jungeun opens her mouth to explain, but the words are sucked right out of her mouth as Jinsol towers before her.

“You’re telling me that not only do you work for a company as terrible as Eclipse despite knowing all of the terrible things they’ve done to people, and me, more importantly, but you do it despite hating them?”

Jungeun doesn’t have an answer. Suddenly, all of those reasons why she can’t leave Eclipse have disappeared from her memory. She’s starting to think they weren’t great reasons after all, the threatening trajectory of this conversation making her more scared of losing Jinsol than she ever has been of losing Eclipse.

“Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable.” Jinsol shakes her head, refusing to meet Jungeun’s eyes.

What they’ve both been dreading, been tiptoeing around, for months has finally come to fruition. Jinsol is angry at herself that she let this carry on for so long, and Jungeun is angry she feels powerless to stop what she knows will happen next.

“I can’t do this anymore, Jungeun. I won’t be a second choice anymore,” Jinsol says, absolutely crestfallen. She stares at the love of her life in front of her, wanting Jungeun to say something, anything. But, after a few moments of silence, Jinsol sighs, and grabs her things to leave.

And finally, _finally_ , the switch flips.

Watching Jinsol walk away, the air of finality familiar in a sense, Jungeun finally gets the right idea in that damn head of hers.

Suddenly, she’s ready to make the easiest decision of her life.

She just hopes she isn’t too late.

-

**_Wednesday February 3rd, 2021_ **

Jinsol sighs, trying to waste as much time as possible by sitting in her warm, comfortable Tesla instead of braving the storm waiting for her outside of it. And the weather is helping much either, frosted snowflakes blizzarding around her car, her view of the entrance warped by white mist.

She really considered not attending today. When Judge Son had contacted her about the extra trial, her first instinct was to inform the judge that she had developed a sudden mysterious illness, and therefore she was unable to make an appearance.

There isn’t anything about her argument that needs any polishing up, she’s pretty sure this case was dead and buried on her end ages ago, so what reason does Jinsol have in attending?

Jinsol opens her phone to check the time and is instantly met with that reason, grinning shyly at her with a beautiful sunset background framing her gorgeous face.

After she had arrived home following the catastrophic conclusion to the last trial, and after she’d had a good cry for a few hours while binge-watching The Bachelor, Jinsol once again realized she may have let her anger get the better of her.

While what she said wasn’t necessarily false or spoken “in the heat of the moment,” not giving Jungeun the chance to defend herself was becoming a bit of a trend, and Jinsol wishes that her common sense wasn’t thrown out the window the minute something pissed her off.

She should have just stuck to the plan, and talked about it like mature adults when the trial concluded, but she surmises her feelings were tired of being put on the backburner, and took the first opportunity they had to reveal themselves.

Jinsol hasn’t seen Jungeun since that trial, but she did respond to Jungeun’s initial texts of concern, knowing her actions might have led Jungeun to believe that their relationship was over.

It’s a thought Jinsol desperately doesn’t want to entertain, and she is willing to give Jungeun the chance to make that decision for herself, even if it means she gets hurt once again in the process if she is on the wrong side of that decision.

Jinsol unlocks her phone and opens their last text conversation. Despite the minimal contributions on her end, Jungeun’s texts were quite… normal, and Jinsol is a little alarmed at the casualness of them once Jungeun was reassured Jinsol hadn’t fled the country or something. Maybe Jungeun has already made her decision, and is already trying to separate herself from Jinsol.

The thought makes Jinsol’s heart ache.

With another sigh, she locks her phone and pulls the collar of her winter coat up to cover her chin, preparing to brave the storm. One way or another, things will probably be resolved by the time she re-enters her car.

Jinsol prays she’ll be sporting a smile and not holding back tears.

Stepping out with her briefcase in hand, she registers the sound of the car doors locking before slipping and sliding her way over to the stairwell entrance. She hastily closes the door behind her once she’s entered, and makes her way up the stairs with great reluctance, thinking she should savour every second that she is still in a relationship while she still can.

Once Jinsol finally enters the main corridor, she is immediately met with the flashing of cameras and about a million microphones thrust into her face.

“Ms. Jung! Is it true that Eclipse Ltd. got your father fired from his job?”

“Are you going to retaliate against the Eclipse Ltd. employee?”

“Do you think you’ll still win this case despite your validity being threatened?”

Jinsol can’t tell which way is up as she tries to steamroll her way past the crowd of vultures, vaguely registering her target destination ahead on her left.

“I have no comments at this time, thank you!” Jinsol responds threateningly, and a few luckily take the hint and back off for the time being.

She finally manages to pass the threshold into the courtroom, and she closes the doors behind her in relief. Despite knowing all attention is likely still on her, Jinsol is at least thankful this crowd isn’t accustomed to breaking her privacy.

Jinsol isn’t surprised that her personal information is now public knowledge. Word travels fast, and the minute she made the show of stepping out in the middle of court, she knew that someone was bound to make the connection.

She tries not to let it bother her as she pulls out her case notes and rehearses her closing statements to herself. She also tries not to let her opposition’s lack of presence bother her either.

Luckily, she’s not alone for long, as Jungeun enters the courtroom only moments after Jinsol. Jinsol isn’t quite sure what she expected, but the atmosphere of the entire room immediately changes the moment Jungeun’s presence is registered.

Jinsol can’t remember the last time she’s seen the brunette so focused. Her aura reminds her of the Jungeun before everything happened, back when they were just semi-friendly rivals. Jungeun’s gaze is calculated, her eyes are fixed forward, and the complete lack of emotion on her face has Jinsol already mentally packing up everything of Jungeun’s possession currently in her apartment.

Judge Son finally enters the courtroom, and immediately notices the tense atmosphere. God, this case has been a mess and a half. Hyejoo has never been more excited to conclude the court.

“Alright, hello everyone. I’m sure everyone here is sick of hearing my voice so let’s just get this over with so the jury can start their deliberation.” Hyejoo pauses, and focuses her attention on the two lawyers. “Would either of you like to go first?”

Hyejoo barely finishes uttering the question before Jungeun immediately shoots up in her chair, not bothering to wait for confirmation as she approaches the jury.

Jungeun clears her throat, and pauses, an unwavering sense of courage fueling her to do what she should have done a very long time ago.

“Hello, jurors. My name is Kim Jungeun, and I work for Eclipse Ltd.”

She receives many faces of confusion in response, but continues without pause.

“You know that already, but I am asking you to forget it, and everything I have said about this case, because none of it is true.”

The gasps ring around the courtroom, and Jinsol’s heart leaps into her throat. What the hell is Jungeun doing?

“As of,” Jungeun pauses to check her watch, “about four minutes ago, I no longer work for Eclipse Ltd. They should have received my resignation letter, and I am now free to disclose whatever I want about this case before they officially remove me from it,” Jungeun says, a cheeky smile plastered on her face.

“And if you’re wondering if that is legal, well… I don’t think they’ll find anyone better than me to fight it, so I wouldn’t worry too much.”

Jungeun is too scared to look in Jinsol’s direction just yet, but the look on the dark-haired woman’s face is one of pure awe.

“So, I would advise each and every one of you to find Eclipse Ltd. guilty on all charges, because they are. The chief officer in charge of the oil pump’s construction cut multiple corners in order to save money, and some of the underground piping was definitely faulty, causing the runoff into the nearby groundwater.”

Jungeun nods her head in satisfaction when she receives a few pointed looks.

“Yes, I am being 100% serious. Trust me, at this point, nobody wants to see Eclipse Ltd. suffer more than me,” Jungeun concludes. She turns to look at Judge Son’s shocked face, and sighs in immense relief, registering the small smile that grows on the judge’s face.

The courtroom immediately erupts in thunderous applause, and Jungeun can’t help but chuckle as she proceeds to exit the courtroom.

Before she leaves, she finally does spare a glance towards who she hopes is still her girlfriend, and at the utter happiness on her face, coupled with the almost 6 year old weight being lifted off of her own shoulders, Jungeun wonders what the hell took her so long.

Jungeun steps foot outside of the courtroom with purpose, relishing the feeling of the shackles that have bound her feet and hands for years finally being released. She can only imagine the look that was on her boss’ face when he read her email, and she hopes, for his sake, their paths never cross again.

The brunette isn’t allowed to reminisce for long as she hears her name being called from behind her. She’s barely able to turn around before a body slams into her like a freight train, and she thanks her quick reflexes that she’s able to catch Jinsol as she jumps into her arms.

“Oh my god!” Jinsol all but screams into Jungeun’s ear, and Jungeun chuckles despite the ringing she now hears.

Jungeun hesitantly puts her down, pulling back just enough to see the elated grin on the older woman’s face.

“That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life, oh my god…” Jinsol says, words coming out in a rush of excitement. “God, I love you so fucking much.”

Jungeun moves both of her hands to cup Jinsol’s cheeks and pulls her in for a much needed kiss, sighing in content at the familiar feeling, but the complete lack of any uncertainty about the future making it just that much sweeter.

Eventually, Jinsol pulls away, and hides her face in the crook of Jungeun’s face as she notices the numerous pairs of eyes on the two of them.

“People are watching us…” Jinsol mumbles into Jungeun’s ear, suddenly very uncharacteristically shy.

Jungeun smiles, and kisses Jinsol’s cheek. “So? We’ve hidden long enough, don’t you think?”

Jinsol pulls back and stares into Jungeun’s loving eyes.

“You say that like we weren’t literally hiding because of you, you moron,” Jinsol teases, poking Jungeun’s chest in emphasis.

Jungeun, instead of rolling her eyes, only smiles more, enjoying the opportunity to stare at the love of her life without the fear of prying eyes.

Jinsol blushes at the intensity of Jungeun’s gaze, and puts her hand over Jungeun’s eyes, blocking her view.

“Stop looking at me like that.”

Jungeun laughs again, everything starting to feel warm and fuzzy due to the pure joy she’s experiencing.

“Also… thank you, for doing that. It would have been so hard for me to ask you to quit Eclipse because I know how long you worked there for and how hard you worked to get there and there was just a lot going on, also I’m sorry for yelling at you again and leaving again I swear I’m going to stop doing that and did I mention how hot it was seeing you take down Eclipse like honestly if I didn’t have to stay and hear the the verdict I would drag you to my Tesla right now.”

Jungeun can count the number of times she’s seen Jinsol this flustered on one hand, so she does nothing to stop the absolute word vomit coming out of her girlfriend’s mouth. Once Jinsol takes a breath, Jungeun leans in to kiss her again quickly, before pulling back to rest their foreheads together.

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.” She pauses, looking straight into Jinsol’s eyes, hoping that her girlfriend isn’t blinded by happiness to recognize the sincerity.

“And, I’m sorry, Jinsol. For everything.”

Jinsol just shakes her head. “Water under the bridge, babe,” she says, well and truly meaning it. She sighs, her dopey grin totally endearing, before a realization dawns on her and she starts smacking Jungeun’s arm in annoyance.

“Wait, I just remembered, you asshole! You really had me thinking you were going to choose Eclipse over me! God, your texts were so dumb and the way you didn’t even try and apologize or beg for forgiveness or anything. You’re such a brat!”

Jungeun only shakes her head, finding her girlfriend ridiculous as usual.

“Are you done? I think they’re expecting you in there,” Jungeun says, gesturing with her head towards the courtroom.

Jinsol huffs, accepting defeat. But honestly, she doesn’t care about anything besides the fact that Jungeun chose her.

“Fine, but I’m not finished with you,” she says, doing that thing again where she points two fingers towards her eyes and then at Jungeun.

Jungeun laughs, giving her a slight push. “I’ll wait for you downstairs, okay?”

Before Jinsol leaves, she quickly captures Jungeun’s lips in one last kiss, before reluctantly pulling away, grinning like a madwoman. She sends Jungeun a final wink before closing the wooden doors behind her.

Jungeun sighs, staring at the door well after it’s shut, looking like the fool in love she unashamedly is, and thinking about how thankful she is that she has such a great ass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy crap i can't believe this is done i'm kinda sad but i hope you enjoyed this monster of a story lmao
> 
> i also just made a twitter (@lo_ells bc i'm unoriginal) bc this quarantine has me mad bored so if you want to come say hi that'd be dope :)))
> 
> also, still got some fun ideas so expect more from me soon!!
> 
> thank you for reading <3


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